San Bernardino Shooting Now a Terror Investigation

FBI says evidence is adding up
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 4, 2015 1:45 PM CST
Updated Dec 4, 2015 2:11 PM CST
San Bernardino Shooting Now a Terror Investigation
A woman cries during a candlelight vigil for shooting victims Thursday at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino, Calif.   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

It's now officially a terror investigation: The FBI announced Friday that an increasing amount of evidence suggests that Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik engaged in an "act of terrorism" as opposed to some kind of workplace dispute in San Bernardino. One element of that is the revelation that Malik, Farook's wife, praised the leader of ISIS online. A Facebook executive confirms to AP that she made the post under an alias at 11am Wednesday, right around the time the couple is believed to have launched the attack that killed 14. It remains unclear whether the pair may have received instructions or acted on their own. Asked directly whether this was an attack by ISIS on US soil, the FBI's David Bowdich answered, "I think you're taking a leap. We're not there."

Authorities also are looking into allegations that Farook had been in contact with people from terror organizations overseas, and whether the pair had any training in Pakistan, reports the Los Angeles Times. Malik was born there, though she grew up in Saudi Arabia, and Farook had reportedly visited. Malik returned to Pakistan for college, and a Pakistani intelligence official tells the New York Times that authorities are now taking a closer look at her time in the country. (More Syed Rizwan Farook stories.)

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