San Bernardino gunman had social link to domestic terrorist recruiter, officials say

The couple’s neighbor, Enrique Marquez, has become a key part of the investigation as he was the one who bought Farook the two assault rifles that authorities said were used in the San Bernardino attack.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong).

The FBI is still trying to recover information from two smashed cell phones found in a garbage can near the home.

A man believed to be Farook visited the Magnum Shooting Range in Riverside, California, alone on the Sunday and Monday prior to the attacks in San Bernardino according to a source familiar with the matter.

The two AR-15s used in the San Bernardino attack were purchased by Enrique Marquez for Farook back in 2011 and 2012, two law enforcement officials said.

Enrique Marquez, friend of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, spoke to KTLA on April 2, 2015.

Seccombe Lake Park lies about 4 km north of the Inland Regional Centre, the social services agency where 14 people were killed and 22 others injured when Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik stormed a holiday gathering of his co-workers there on Dec 2 and opened fire with assault rifles. The pair were killed in a police shootout hours later following a high speed pursuit.

“Everyone’s asking the same questions about how it is that law enforcement didn’t know, or intelligence officials didn’t know, that they could have flown under the radar and nothing gave an indication that they were a threat”, said Jim Langevin, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee. The FBI has said that Malik declared her allegiance to the Islamic State group in a Facebook posting shortly before the attack. Marquez was married past year with Farook’s brother as a witness. He married Mariya Chernykh, the sister-in-law of Farook’s older brother. “This woman was obviously radicalized years ago, and she got through the system”.

Marquez had reportedly worked at Wal-Mart, but was recently fired. The plot would have targeted the Los Angeles area.

He began attending Friday prayers at a Corona mosque, but didn’t seem committed to Islam, said Azmi Hasan, manager at the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco, showing up for prayers sporadically, sometimes missing them for months, reports Reuters. The paperwork transferring the guns between the two friends was never filed.

Marquez, 24, has also told investigators that he had no advance knowledge of last week’s massacre. “He was a pretty laidback guy”.

After the shooting, Mr Marquez called his mother to say he was safe but that he would not be coming home, neighbour Lorena Aguirre said.

He checked into a mental health facility after the shootings and has been interviewed by federal authorities. It’s unclear where he is now. Both sisters are from Russian Federation, the newspaper reported. The official was familiar with the visas but not authorized to speak publicly.

Family and colleagues on Thursday remembered Velasco’s bright smile, early wisdom and determination to succeed in her career.

The U.S. State Department is looking into whether it missed any signs of Malik’s radical Islamist beliefs when U.S. officials in Pakistan scrutinized her request for a fiancee visa to come to the United States to marry Farook.

When asked by the Senate panel whether a terrorist operative or group arranged the couple’s marriage, Comey stated: “I don’t know the answer to that yet”.

Meanwhile, Malik’s father says he condemns and regrets his daughter’s action and the deaths of 14 people.