During a radio broadcast, ISIS praised the attack that killed 14 people as carried out by two supporters, but it stopped short of claiming responsibility.
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Farook, a U.S. citizen born in IL to Pakistani immigrant parents, worked as an inspector for the San Bernardino County Department of Environment Health, the agency whose holiday party he and Malik allegedly attacked on Wednesday.
Asked about a reported Facebook post by Malik on the day of the attack pledging loyalty to Islamic State, Bowdich said, “I know it was in a general timeline where that post was made, and yes, there was a pledge of allegiance”.
IS refers to the swathe of territory it controls in Syria and Iraq as an Islamic caliphate.
The federal source who confirmed the development to NPR’s Carrie Johnson also warns that the statement on social media should not be seen as evidence that the attack was coordinated or ordered by the extremist group.
Investigators insist they still don’t know what motivated the two to go on a shooting rampage that left 14 dead and 21 wounded.
“We know that ISIL and other terrorist groups are actively encouraging people around the world and in our country to commit bad acts of violence, often times as lone wolf actors”, said the US President.
Muslim officials in San Bernardino held a prayer vigil at a local mosque late Thursday to honor the victims and urged people not to link Islam with the attacks.
And none of the contacts federal agents have since discovered between the couple and the subjects of other FBI inquiries “were of such a significance that it raised these killers up onto our radar screen”, Comey said.
What the public concern most is that whether the shooting is terrorist-related.
While details about the shooters emerged Friday morning, an unusual occurrence took place at the couple’s former residence.
While authorities did not cite specific evidence that led them to the terrorism focus, a USA law enforcement official revealed that the wife, Tashfeen Malik, had under a Facebook alias pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and its leader. The couple had a 6-month-old daughter, now in the care of social service authorities.
Malik’s post was made on an account with a different name, one US official said.
MSNBC said that one reporter from another outlet had paid the landlord $1,000 for access to the ground floor premises, and that the rest of the media flooded in behind.
Weapons found at the home of Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik after their deaths (AFP). The FBI said they found several shredded documents and two mobiles that had been destroyed.
Given the cache of weaponry they were stockpiling in their suburban home, however, police believe the couple was planning something – they just aren’t sure what.
He said his brother, Malik’s father, had become considerably more conservative since moving with his family to Saudi Arabia a quarter century ago.
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Another person close to the Saudi government says Tashfeed Malik didn’t stay in Saudi Arabia but eventually returned to Islamabad and lived there, returning to Saudi Arabia for visits. The officials say his family – including Tashfeen Malik, then only a few years old – joined him there 25 years ago. “And we will not be terrorized”, Obama said.
