Federal Bureau of Investigation searches California shooter Farook’s former neighbor’s home

This undated photo provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Tashfeen Malik.

The woman who helped her husband kill 14 people at holiday party in California praised the leader of the Islamic State group in a Facebook post just minutes into the attack.

The FBI says it is investigating the deadly mass shooting in California as an “act of terrorism”.

(California Department of Motor Vehicles via AP). Farook communicated with i…

An IS statement on May 5 said “we tell America that what is coming are worse and more bitter, and that you will see from the soldiers of the IS what will aggravate you”.

“Obviously it’s something that we’re looking at very, very closely”, Lynch told NBC “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd when asked whether Rafia Farook knew about the “pipe bomb factory” her son had set up in the family’s garage.

After two days of debate and speculation over whether the killing of 14 people in the city was terrorism or simply the act of a disgruntled worker, the authorities say the evidence is now mainly pointing at the former.

MORE: What we know about the San Bernardino terror attackThe official added that Malik expressed “admiration” for the extremist group’s leader under the alias Facebook account, but that there was no sign anyone affiliated with the Islamic State group communicated back with her or conveyed any operation instructions to her. FBI Director James Comey said there was no indication yet that the plot was directed by any other foreign terror group.

On Saturday, several news organizations including CNN and the Associated Press reported that the Islamic State extremist group had described the couple as “supporters” of the group in an online radio broadcast. Farook worked as an environmental health specialist for San Bernardino County for five years and had been at the party with his co-workers before leaving and returning with his wife, four guns and a bomb.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said U.S. authorities have no evidence that the shooters were part of a larger terrorism cell but were working with their counterparts overseas to gather information about their lives.

Among the questions raised by the San Bernardino shootings is whether the government can adequately investigate people who come to the United States on a special visa for fiances of US citizens. Malik came with Farook to the U.S.in July 2014 with a visa that stated Farook was her fiancée. The couple left their 6-month-daughter with Farook’s mother before going on the attack, according to a relative.

Tashfeen Malik returned to Pakistan and studied pharmacy at Bahauddin Zakaria university in Multan from 2007 to 2012. She later moved to Saudi Arabia with her immediate family.

“There’s a serious investigation ongoing into what she was doing in Pakistan and in Saudi”, Representative Michael McCaul said on Fox News Sunday.

The F.B.I. refocused its efforts on these individuals earlier this year in response to a shift in tactics by the Islamic State, law enforcement officials said.

“The wild card here is the wife Malik”, said McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

A year before she got married, she began wearing a scarf that covered all but her nose and eyes, the maid said.

The two officials were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Family lawyer Mohammad Abuershaid said that Farook traveled twice to Saudi Arabia – first in 2013 for the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims are required to make at least once in their lifetimes, then again to marry Malik, whom he’d met through an online dating service.

On Thursday, a US intelligence official said Farook had been in contact with known Islamic extremists on social media.

While Farook generally kept to himself, the one exception was his friendship with Marquez, who like him, loved to tinker with cars, neighbors said.

The attorneys said the family was shocked by the attack and mourns for the victims. They cautioned against rushing to judgment on their motivations. Investigators say they had more than 1,600 bullets with them when they were killed and well over 4,500 rounds of ammunition at their home.