The two gunmen in the San Bernardino massacre were officially named by authorities early Thursday, as 28-year-old Syed R. Farook and 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik.
Some hours after committing the mass shooting, the two were killed after a car chase and a gunfight with police, with Ms. Malik driving and Mr. Farook shooting at pursuing police cars out the window.
Mr. Farook was an environmental health specialist for the San Bernardino County government, which gave him access without suspicion to the building where the pair killed 14 people and wounded 17 others.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan told an overnight news conference early Thursday that the two were in a romantic relationship — “either boyfriend, girlfriend; husband and wife.”
He said he was uncertain about the exact legal nature of the relationship, but the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a family member, that the pair were married.
The Times also reported, citing a co-worker of Mr. Farook, that the pair met online and he brought her back to the U.S. after a visit to Saudi Arabia.
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Mr. Farook’s brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, spoke at a late Wednesday news conference organized by the Council on American Islamic Relations and said he was in shock that something like this could happen.”
According to the New York Daily News, Mr. Farook’s father, whom the paper did not name, confirmed in an interview that his son did health inspections and was married with a child.
He also identified his son as “very religious. He would go to work, come back, go to pray, come back. He’s Muslim.”
The Los Angeles Times reported similarly, based on interviews with co-workers, though they added that he rarely spoke of the subject at work.
“He never struck me as a fanatic, he never struck me as suspicious,” Griselda Reisinger said.
Mr. Khan, whose wife is Mr. Farook’s sister, said he spoke to the suspect about a week ago, but he declined to answer questions on possible motive, saying it was too shocking for him to fathom.
According to Hussam Ayloush, CAIR executive director, the couple left their baby with other family members early Wednesday and never returned.
Mr. Farook was a U.S. citizen, according to multiple news outlets.
A source told NBC News that Mr. Farook’s brother also was believed to be a suspect, though Chief Burguan said Thursday that officials were “pretty comfortable” saying that Mr. Farook and Ms. Malik committed the massacre themselves.
Correction: The Times briefly posted a photo of a man thought to be Syed Farook. It was not correct. The Times regrets the error.
