At age 28, Syed Rizwan Farook inspected restaurants and public pools. A Muslim, he was from a self-described religious but modern California family.
On Wednesday, he and Tashfen Malik (27), left their infant daughter with Farook’s mother, put on black assault-style clothing, armed themselves and launched the deadliest US shooting spree in three years.
The couple stormed a holiday party attended by his San Bernardino County co-workers, killing 14 people and wounding 21 in what appeared to be a planned attack before dying in a shootout with police, leaving a shaken community with few clues to deduce a motive for the carnage.
A US citizen born in Illinois, Farook worked as a county environmental health specialist, inspecting restaurants and swimming pools for health violations, according to authorities and a website that tracks public employees.
Online dating sites
While he appeared not to have profiles on such popular social media sites as Facebook and LinkedIn, Farook was registered on at least three online dating sites. It was unclear when he had created those profiles.
On ArabLounge.com, a site for Arab singles “looking for dating, friendship and love”, Farook described himself as single, “Allah fearing”, calm, thoughtful and simple.
“I try to live as a good Muslim,” he wrote.
Farook said he was looking for a “girl who has the same outlook”, who wore a hijab - the head covering worn in public by some Muslim women - but lives life to the fullest. His profile listed him as 6ft tall (1.83m) and a non-smoker with a “very liberal” political view.
“Impulsive buying” gets on his nerves and lying turns him off, he said. He listed his income as $30,000 to $45,000.
On the iMilap.com site, Farook described himself as a 22-year-old Muslim male living in Riverside, California, who was from a “religious but modern family of 4 - 2 girls, 2 boys”.
He said he enjoyed working on vintage and modern cars, reading religious books and eating out on occasion.
Co-workers told the Los Angeles Times that Farook had traveled to Saudi Arabia and returned with his new wife, whom he had met online.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington said on Thursday that he had visited the country in the summer of 2014.
“Syed Rizwan Farook traveled to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2014 for a total of 9 days,” the embassy said in a statement. “The Saudi government has no records indicating that the wife is a Saudi citizen.”
Farook was the son of immigrant parents from Pakistan while Malik was born in Pakistan and lived in Saudi Arabia until she was introduced to Farook, according to Hussam Ayloush, head of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). They were married for two years, Ayloush said.
The FBI said Malik was in the US on a visa under a Pakistani passport.
An older brother of Farook had served in the US military, Ayloush said.
On Wednesday, Farook attended an annual holiday gathering for employees of his department, then left, only to return later with Malik and weapons, authorities said.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said the shootings were clearly planned in advance and that the suspects had left several explosive devices, which appeared to be pipe bombs, at the scene of the massacre.
“They came prepared to do what they did as though they were on a mission,” Burguan said.
Farook had no criminal record so far as police knew, Burguan said.
SueAnn Chapman, a cashier and waitress at China Doll Fast Food, a restaurant that Syed Farook had inspected earlier this year, said he did not seem unusual.
“He was real quiet,” Chapman said. “He checked the food and said he was here because somebody complained. ... He looked completely normal.”
Burguan said he did not know whether Farook and Malik were married, but officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) who had been in touch with the family said they were husband and wife.
The couple were married for two years and had a six-month-old baby girl, the executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of CAIR, Hussam Ayloush, told Reuters.
Doctor’s appointment
The pair left the infant early on Wednesday with Farook’s mother in the nearby city of Redlands, Ayloush said, relaying information he had received from a brother-in-law of Farook. The couple told her they were headed to a doctor’s appointment for Malik.
Burguan said that police investigating the shooting went to a house in Redlands on Wednesday afternoon, and saw the couple take off in a black SUV. Police pursued the car to San Bernardino, where the gun battle ensued that left Farook and Malik dead.
Farook's family was originally from South Asia, while Malik was believed to be from Pakistan and had lived in Saudi Arabia before coming to the United States, Ayloush said. An older brother of Farook had served in the US military, he said.
Public records suggest possible turbulence in Farook’s younger life.
In 2006, Rafia Farook, whom records indicate is Farook’s mother, filed in a Riverside court for divorce from her husband, also named Syed Farook.
She listed multiple instances of domestic abuse in the legal filing, and said her husband “threatens to kill himself on a daily basis”.
During one incident, she said in a court filing, her son came between them “to save me”.
Reuters
