The shift in the investigation came shortly after federal law enforcement officials said the woman who helped carry out the shooting in San Bernardino, California, Tashfeen Malik, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a Facebook posting.
Advertisement
The message, which was recovered by FBI investigators, suggests the attack allegedly carried out by Malik and her husband Syed Rizwan Farook (28) at a San Bernardino social services centre, about 90km east of Los Angeles, was premeditated.
Rania Elbanna, 40, left, and Dr. Shaheen Zakaria, friends from Loma Linda, California, hold candles at a vigil at San Manuel Stadium Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, in remembrance of the 14 people lost Wednesday in the San Bernardino mass shooting.
Two Pakistani officials said Malik was from the Layyah district in southern Punjab province, but moved to Saudi Arabia with her father 25 years ago. They said the finding, if confirmed, could be a “game changer” in the investigation.
All fatal San Bernardino shooting victims identifiedFarook, 28, was an American citizen, while Malik, 27, was in the United States on a Pakistani passport and had a K1 “Fiance” Visa, according to David Bowdich, assistant director of the Los Angeles FBI office.
Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeem Malik attempted to erase their digital footprint before the massacre, and crushed their cell phones before dumping them in the trash, Bowdich said. According to coworkers, he traveled to Saudi Arabia in July 2014 to meet her. She traveled back to the USA with him and the two had a daughter, now 6 months old.
Farook was a U.S. born national and Malik was from Pakistan. The company does not allow people to praise terrorist groups or promote terrorism, and it works to ensure that terrorists or terrorist groups can not use the site.
A Facebook executive says Malik posted the material under an alias account at 11am on Wednesday.
In excerpts of the interview released Friday, Khan expressed disbelief that Farook would leave behind his infant girl and said he was angry with Farook for the attack. And you left that kid behind.
“I only found out about this tragedy today when some intelligence officials contacted me to ask me about my linkswith Tashfeen”, Malik’s uncle, Javed Rabbani, said in aninterview. The authorities are continuing to investigate the case to understand the shooters’ motivations and whether they were planning further attacks, he said. “What did you achieve?”
Advertisement
When police searched the suspects’ home, they found “several hundred”.22-caliber long-rifle rounds, “12 pipe bomb-type devices” in the garage, “hundreds of tools, many of which could be used to construct IEDs or pipe bombs”, 2,000 9 mm rounds, and 2,500.223-caliber rounds of ammunition.
