Who Were California Shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik?

By Saeed Ahmed. Police say they’ve identified the couple who massacred 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California, and while the killers’ specific motives remain unclear, sources Thursday said the husband was in touch with terrorists and may have had workplace grievances.

Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who were killed Wednesday in a shootout with police, committed the deadliest U.S. mass shooting since the December 2012 rampage at Sandy Hook, authorities say.

Here is what we know about them: . . .

Farook, an American citizen, was an environmental health specialist with the San Bernardino County health department, which was hosting the holiday party at the Inland Regional Center where the attack took place . . .

On Thursday, law enforcement officials told CNN that Farook had been in touch via phone and social media with more than one international terrorism subject whom the FBI was investigating. (Read more from “Who Were California Shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik?” HERE)

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California Shooter Wrote of Spending His Free Time at Mosque and ‘Memorizing the Quran’

By Chuck Ross. Syed Rizwan Farook was heavily involved in his local mosque and focused his energies on memorizing the Quran, he wrote in a short-lived dating profile in 2013.

“I spend much of my free time in the masjid,” Farook, then 28, wrote on his profile for the dating site, BestMuslim.com. He also enjoyed “memorizing the quran and learning more about the religion,” he added.

Farook and his wife, 27-year-old Tashfeen Hakim, killed 14 people at a holiday party being held for county workers at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Cal. on Wednesday. Farook worked as a health inspector for the county and had been at the party before he and Hakim began their attack.

The couple was killed during a shootout with police later on Wednesday. They had four guns, investigators have said. And though authorities have not officially classified the attack as terrorism, more evidence is pointing in that direction.

Farook reportedly had contact with known terrorists in the Middle East. He has also traveled to the Middle East and to Pakistan multiple times. It has also been reported that Farook viewed ISIS propaganda online. Investigators found a heavy arsenal of guns, ammunition and pipe bombs at their house in Redlands, Cal. (Read more from “California Shooter Wrote of Spending His Free Time at Mosque and ‘Memorizing the Quran'” HERE)

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