Police, feds probe terror as possible motive in SoCal massacre
Fox News, December 3, 2015:
UPDATE: AS CHILLING DETAILS EMERGE about Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, the Muslim couple who stormed a county social services office in San Bernardino, Calif., yesterday morning killing 14 at an office gathering, before dying themselves hours later in a shootout with police, evidence is mounting that when the pair left their 'IED factory' home brandishing assault weapons and pipe bombs, and decked out in body armor — they were hell-bent on jihad.
Dressed in body armor and wearing GoPro cameras, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, burst into the San Bernardino facility and shot up a conference room where Farook's employer, the county health department, was hosting a holiday party. The pair escaped in a black SUV after the attack, which authorities said was over within minutes, only to resurface three hours later and less than 2 miles away in a fierce gun battle on the city's main drag...
Law enforcement officials said late Wednesday they could not rule out terrorism as a possible motive. The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was aiding in the investigation...
"Farook described by co-workers as a 'devout' Muslim... had traveled to Saudi Arabia for about a month this past spring..."
Farook, who authorities said was born in Illinois, and raised in California and had worked as a restaurant inspector at the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health for five years, was described by co-workers as a "devout" Muslim, who lived in a home in nearby Redlands, which sources described as "an IED factory." Bomb squads working with robots swept the home late into the night Wednesday, and witnesses reported hearing several explosions...
"Farook showed no signs of unusual behavior, although he grew out his beard several months ago..."
Patrick Baccari, a co-worker of Farook who suffered minor wounds from shrapnel slicing through the building's bathroom walls, told The Associated Press he had been sitting at the same table as Farook at the banquet before his colleague suddenly disappeared, leaving his coat on his chair.
Baccari also said that Farook had traveled to Saudi Arabia for about a month this past spring. When Farook came back, word spread that he had gotten married and the woman he described as a pharmacist joined him shortly afterward. Baccari added that the reserved Farook showed no signs of unusual behavior, although he grew out his beard several months ago...