California shootings: Federal Bureau of Investigation searching nearby lake

Here are five things you need to know Friday morning, December 11, about the continuing investigation into last week’s San Bernardino massacre, where 14 people were killed and 22 injured at the Inland Regional Center by shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik.

Several lawmakers said they didn’t learn anything from the briefing that wasn’t already being reported in the news media.

The FBI and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department have also dispatched evidence recovery divers to Lake Seccombe in the city.

The couple’s motives remain unclear. ISIS did not directly take responsibility for the attack, but praised Farook and Malik as “martyrs”. “There are limited law enforcement resources, so you really don’t want law enforcement to engaged in wild goose chases”. The FBI is acting on a lead they received that Farook and Malik were spotted at the lake, in a park near the Inland Regional Center.

Investigators believe Farook ran in the same social circle as Kabir, who was convicted a year ago.

“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 Rep. Jim Langevin, a Rhode island Democrat and member of the House Homeland Security Committee. He stressed the four Riverside defendants were never accused of planning attacks within the United States.

“They were actually radicalized before they started dating each other online, and as early as the end of 2013 they were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom before they became engaged.”

The couple has a 1-year-old daughter.

But Bowdich said that while the men had planned to attack US military bases in Afghanistan, they had no plans to commit terrorist acts in the United States. Viviana Ramirez, 23, a friend who knew Mr. Marquez through Riverside Community College, said he did not seem happy with the arrangement.

Concern over so-called “lone wolf” attacks has paralleled the rise of Islamic State over the past year.

Schiff said it was still a mystery why the shooters, who amassed a large arsenal of ammunition, chose to attack Farook’s co-workers instead of another target.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh). FBI Director James Comey is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, prior to testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Investigators are looking into whether this was a sham marriage for immigration purposes.

Investigators have said the killers tried to cover their tracks by destroying emails, cellphones and other items at their home in Redlands. It was unusual behavior for Mr. Marquez, who was perpetually short on money: sometimes he could not afford gas for his vehicle, or asked people to buy him drinks. Comey has said Farook had been in communication with individuals who were being scrutinized by the FBI in terrorism investigations, but that the contact he had was not enough to bring him onto the law enforcement radar. But Farook was not among those investigated at the time, the officials said.

Their efforts there are focused on a bespectacled former Walmart employee, Enrique Marquez, and his purchase of a pair of rifles used in the attack that claimed 14 lives. A federal law enforcement source said Marquez and Farook appear to have contemplated some sort of attack around 2012 but abandoned the idea.

Marquez converted to Islam and attended mosque sermons on and off for a couple years, said Azmi Hasan, who has served as facility manager of the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco since 2000.