Authorities sought on Thursday (December 3) to determine if a couple accused of killing 14 people in a mass shooting at a workplace holiday party in Southern California had links to Islamic militant groups abroad, U.S. officials familiar with the investigation said.
Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, who had a 6-month-old daughter together, were killed in a shootout with police after Wednesday’s massacre at the Inland Regional Center social services agency in the city of San Bernardino.
Officials in Washington familiar with the investigation said so far there was no hard evidence of a direct connection between the shooters and any militant group abroad.
“It would be irresponsible and premature of me to to call this terrorism. The FBI defines terrorism in a very specifically and we are still that is the big question for us is what is the motivation for this. First and foremost the integrity of this investigation again is paramount. Secondly it’s ultimately to determine the motive and the inspiration for this attack,” Assistant Director in Charge of FBI Los Angeles, David Bowdich said.
Police said a raid of a townhouse believed used by the couple yielded flash drives, computers and cellphones that would be checked to see if the couple had been browsing on Jihadist websites or social media.
Reuters