Authorities don’t yet know if Wednesday’s deadly shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, was an act of terrorism, but a statement from terror group Islamic State has called the suspected killers followers of the group.
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However, Comey said so far there was no indication that pointed to the husband-and-wife shooters’ affiliation to any group.
San Bernardino police chief Jarrod Burguan said Farook and his wife – who dropped off their six-month-old daughter with Farook’s mother shortly beforehand – fired about 150 bullets inside the Inland Regional Center and during a subsequent shootout with police that left both dead, after a huge manhunt. He said investigators were looking carefully to determine if there is an Islamic State connection.
“Our hearts continue to ache for the people lost and wounded in San Bernardino and their families”, Comey said, echoing Lynch’s earlier sentiments to keep the victims and their families “in our prayers”. She was said to be a brilliant student and was not known to have religious or political affiliation while there.
Authorities have said that the couple fired as many as 75 rounds into the room where the holiday party was being held before fleeing and they had more than 1,600 rounds left when they were killed. Farook also traveled overseas in 2013, Bowdich said.
Law enforcement sources authorities told NBC News that suspect Tashfeen Malik, 27, posted a pledge of support to an ISIS leader on Facebook at around the time of the attack.
He also said the shooters attempted to destroy evidence, including crushing two cellphones and discarding them in a trash can. Law enforcement officials report Farook was apparently radicalized and in touch with people being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for global terrorism. In July of 2015, she was awarded permanent residency, which would have required a significant background check by US officials.
The lawyer said the entire Farook family is shocked by what happened, and rarely spoke to Malik, whom he described as a “housewife” who usually wore a burka and who rarely showed her face even to her husband’s relatives.
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Another person close to the Saudi government said Tashfeed Malik did not stay in Saudi Arabia, eventually returning to Pakistan and living in the capital Islamabad, though she returned to Saudi Arabia for visits. The couple’s 6-month-old child is now in the care of child protective services, but the family is trying to gain custody of her, the attorneys said.
