The FBI has said it is treating the attack as an act of terrorism.
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(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong).
Mourners comforted one another Monday near a makeshift street-corner memorial in San Bernardino, where people put up rows of American flags and candles, alongside bouquets, balloons and cards.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the government was considering reforms to the existing system “that would make it easier and, frankly, more effective for the Department of Homeland Security to communicate with the public about what threats are perceived, which steps are taken to mitigate those threats, and recommend any steps that we believe the public should take”.
The Pakistani origin couple who killed 14 people last week in San Bernardino, California, had always been “radicalised” and had practiced at a target range days before last week’s massacre, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It wasn’t made clear exactly how many were functional.
Corwin Porter, health department assistant director, said Monday that the room didn’t provide much protection.
Malik and Farook fled the shooting site together, but police later found their vehicle and killed the couple in a shootout.
David Bowdich, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of its Los Angeles field office, said it is possible the shooters were radicalized through the Internet and not through an in-person connection.
Officials are trying to figure that out, as well as who might have guided or helped the married couple turn their extreme views into a horrific act of terrorism, as characterized by President Barack Obama and law enforcement officials.
And, Farook? He went to the Riverside Magnum firing range with his own weapons to practice the Sunday and Monday before the attack. “That target practice, on one occasion, was done within days of this event”.
Bowdich says investigators found 19 pipes in the couple’s home in Redlands, California, that could be turned into bombs with all the right components. He also said the FBI was working with foreign counterparts to expand the scope of its investigation.
Newly released emergency radio transmissions show that police identified Farook as a suspect nearly immediately.
The couple opened fire, killing 14 and wounding 21 others. At least six people remained hospitalized Monday, two in critical condition. “So far we have no evidence that the killers were directed by a terrorist organization overseas, or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home”. Residents in the neighborhood where Marquez and Farook used to live said the pair seemed to be good friends for several years. Marquez has not been charged with a crime.
Still, it’s hard to say what precipitated her or Farook’s shift, with one USA official noting, “It’s not like a switch goes on and you’re radicalized”. “We can’t be afraid of our lives, of our community, of our neighbors, of our co-workers”.
Authorities tightened security at county buildings and offered counseling. Investigators are probing if the transaction was a loan from the Utah-based bank to Farook who earned $53,000 a year as an environmental health inspector.
As more reports of the shooters’ fascination with ISIS emerged, Obama spoke to the nation Sunday night in a bid to temper growing anxiety. They said he had attended the holiday party and then left, only to return with his wife, both dressed in black military-style clothing and heavily armed.
“What really bothers me most”, said Dr. Dev GnanaDev, chief of surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, “is that none of the 14 who perished had a chance”.
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Farook and Malik had been married two years and had a 6-month-old daughter, authorities said.
