Son pulls mother under bed during San Bernardino gun battle: 'It's really, really terrifying' - Los Angeles Times
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Son pulls mother under bed during San Bernardino gun battle: ‘It’s really, really terrifying’

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Mahir Rahman, 17, came home from Citrus Valley High School in Redlands just after 3 p.m. Wednesday. He walked past his mother, who was watching TV coverage of the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center, and into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

A moment later, he heard the pop-pop-pop of gunfire outside the family’s San Bernardino Avenue home.

“Oh … we’ve gotta go,” Rahman said. “Have you ever heard gunshots? It’s really, really terrifying.”

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Rahman grabbed his mother, pulled her into his bedroom and they both slid under the bed. “I told my mom to go in first, and then I went in after her,” he said.

Under the bed, his cellphone lit up with texts from friends: “Your house is on TV.” He asked them to keep him posted, “since they knew more than I did.” Then they waited for the gunfire to stop.

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“It felt timeless,” Rahman said. “It felt like an eternity.”

About 10 minutes later, Rahman said, they crept into the living room and peered out the window. They saw more than 20 police cars and officers in tactical gear in the street. He beckoned to a SWAT officer and opened the front door to ask what was going on. The officer told him to stay inside.

Twitter: @laura_nelson

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