Law enforcement officials have identified husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, as the two suspects who orchestrated a massacre in San Bernardino, California. The attackers killed 14 people and wounded many others. However, their motives remain a mystery.
Syed Rizwan Farook
Farook worked as a health inspector at the Inland Regional Center for five years. San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said that Farook angrily left the holiday party at the center and returned between 10 and 30 minutes later when gunfire erupted.
Farook was born in Illinois to his parents who were originally from Pakistan. He graduated with an environmental health degree from California State University San Bernardino in 2009.
Co-workers told the Los Angeles Times that they were shocked to find out that he was identified as one attacker. They said Farook was reserved, polite and had "no obvious grudges.”
Patrick Baccari, a coworker who shared a cubicle with the gunman, told the Times that Farook recently traveled to Saudi Arabia, meeting and returning home with a new wife.
Farook and Malik had been married for two years, according to Hussam Ayloush, the executive director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations Los Angeles chapter. The couple left their six-month old girl with Farook’s grandmother before the shooting, telling her they were leaving for a doctor's appointment.
An online dating profile has surfaced on iMilap.com seemingly belonging to Farook. At the time, he described himself as a 22-year-old Muslim American from a "religious but modern family." He also listed "Eastern and Western Mix" under his family values. The profile said that he enjoyed "working on vintage and modern cars, read religious books, enjoy eating out sometimes travel and just hang out in back yard doing target practice with younger sister and friends."
Tashfeen Malik
So far, little is known about Tashfeen Malik, other than that she met her husband online and traveled from Saudi Arabia to the US.
Police said that the couple wore tactical gear and carried assault-style weapons during Wednesday's attack. Explosive devices were found inside the building and police believe the pair intended to inflict more damage.
The pair died in a shootout with police officers just five miles away from the massacre.
The four guns used in mass shooting were purchased legally and two were purchased by the couple, ABC News reports.
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