Divers search lake for evidence linked to California shooting

Divers were searching Seccombe Lake on Thursday for evidence in the San Bernardino mass shooting.

As federal authorities attempt to piece together the circumstances surrounding the San Bernardino attack, they’ve been questioning Enrique Marquez, a former neighbor and friend of Farook.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong).

Authorities also searched a lake near San Bernardino Thursday, where they may have been searching for a missing computer hard drive that belonged to the couple. However, it is still not known if Marquez gave or sold the guns to Farook.

The woman came to the US from Russian Federation on a J-1 visa in 2009, according to another law enforcement official.

The California police have searched the Seccombe Lake Park as investigations continue into last week’s shootings in San Bernardino, in which 14 people were killed.

The two suspects are thought to have visited the park on the day of the shooting, an Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman said.

The FBI has found online communications between the two killers from late 2013, before they began dating, indicating the two discussing jihad, Comey said. He also declined to specify what the divers were looking for.

FBI Director James Comey and other senior American officials on Thursday briefed members of Congress, who were curious to know whether any red flags may have been missed in the last two years.

The officials said the review, which is being conducted by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, was in an early stage.

The FBI said it is treating the shooting attack as an act of terrorism.

The revelations by Comey appear to counter an earlier theory studied by investigators that Malik may have radicalized her husband, appearing as the driving force behind the attacks.

The organisations Malik sought out likely shied away out of extreme caution in communicating with individuals unknown to them and a fear of being caught up in a law-enforcement “sting” operation, sources said.

“These people weren’t on the radar”, he added. Farook asked Marquez to buy the rifles because he was anxious he wouldn’t pass the background check himself.

Farook, a USA citizen, and his Pakistani-born wife, opened fire December 2 at a holiday luncheon attended by many of Farook’s co-workers in the San Bernardino health department.

Investigators have been looking into the relationship between Farook, who was killed with his wife in a shootout with police a few hours after their assault, and Enrique Marquez, a boyhood friend.

He said FBI investigators had met with the families and victims, adding that many may never recover from their physical and emotional scars.

Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, a Republican who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said that the pair became apprehensive and shelved the plan because of law enforcement activity and arrests in the area.

According to Reuters, Marquez-who had converted to Islam over the course of his friendship with Farook-had told Azmi Hasan, manager at the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco three years ago “that Islam was not for him”. “My son is a good person”.

“I don’t know how this happened…”

“My world is upside down”, she said.

The information about the aborted plot allegedly came from Enrique Marquez, Farook’s friend and relative by marriage.