The official said Tashfeen Malik made her posts under an alias and deleted them before she and husband Syed Farook killed 14 people Wednesday at a holiday party for his co-workers.
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An audio message broadcast by the Islamic State on Saturday said that two “supporters” had executed the San Bernardino attack, but it stopped short of saying the pair were members of the extremist group, which controls parts of Iraq and Syria.
As President Obama prepares to address the nation this evening about the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, investigators are still trying to get a clearer picture of what drove Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik, who allegedly carried out the rampage.
The couple’s motivation for the attack is a key focus for investigators.
As the FBI investigates the attack as an act of terrorism possibly inspired by ISIS, the agency is now working to determine if the man, a former neighbor of one of the attackers – Syed Rizwan Farook – had any knowledge of the plot, The Washington Post reports.
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SHERIFF/EPA The FBI, after announcing the killings were officially a terrorist attack, became the lead investigative agency on Friday. A black SUV was involved in a high-speed pursuit, shots were fired and as of the update, law enforcement were approaching the vehicle with precision and care.
Police confirmed two suspects – a man and a woman armed with assault rifles and possibly explosives – were dead while a third person seen running away from the vehicle had been detained. “He is a nice religious singer known as Naat Khawan”, he said.
Facebook declined to go into details about the nature of the post.
Farook, born in Chicago to Pakistani parents and raised in Southern California, met his wife online. “We are from a land of Sufi saints… this is very shocking for us”, said school teacher Hifza Bibi, the step-sister of Malik s father, who lives in Karor Lal Esan town in central Punjab province.
“We pray to God to accept them as martyrs”, said an announcement on the terror group’s al-Bayan Radio. Some were by phone, some on social media.
Law enforcement officials have long warned that Americans acting in sympathy with Islamic extremists [-] though not on direct orders [-] could launch an attack inside the U.S. The Islamic State in particular has urged sympathizers worldwide to commit violence in their countries. Farook’s last communication with the contacts was months ago.
Police reported earlier that they were able to locate the suspects linked to the mass shooting that happened on Wednesday afternoon, HNGN previously reported.
One U.S. official said there appears to be nothing in Farook’s history that would implicate him as the driver of the attack.
McCaul also noted that Farook had a large arsenal of semi-automatic guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and pipe bombs.
The shooters didn’t make it easy for authorities to track their digital footprints.
At a Shell gas station about a block from the shooting site, store manager Ana Fuentes said there was a flood of police activity in the area.
Relatives had no idea that the couple held radical views, according to family lawyers.
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She added that Farook said Americans don’t understand Islam.
