Shooters may have had links to radical ideology

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The married couple who massacred 14 people during a holiday party at a social service center fired up to 75 rounds into the frantic crowd and even planted a crude explosive device of pipe bombs before they fled the scene, police said Thursday.

Authorities said Syed R. Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, had amassed a huge arsenal of weapons, ammunition and explosive devices at their residence in nearby Redlands that they drew upon for their attack Wednesday. Twenty-one people also were injured; at least two remained in critical condition.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Thursday it was still too early to determine whether the shooting had its roots in terrorism. But the FBI’s National Security Division, which oversees terror cases, is deeply involved in investigating the backgrounds of the two dead suspects, a federal law enforcement official said Thursday.

Of particular interest is the suspects’ recent travel to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and Farook’s apparent contacts with at least a handful of individuals with suspected ties to radical extremism and who have been known to the FBI, said the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

The official cautioned that investigators have not fully examined the contents of all of the couples' electronic communications, so any suspicious messages or contacts are still under review.

Authorities have begun to piece together some key elements of the attack at the center but have not determined a motive.

"If you look at the preparation, the amount of weapons and ammunition, there was obviously a mission here," David Bowdich, assistant director of the Los Angeles FBI office, told reporters Thursday. But he added that at this early stage in the investigation it would be "irresponsible and premature to call this terrorism."

"We cannot rule anything out at this point,” Bowdich said.

The two suspects were shot and killed hours after the initial attack during a high-speed chase with officers who traced them to their Redlands residence. Two officers were slightly injured in the encounter, but none of the wounds was life-threatening.

It was the nation's deadliest shooting since a gunman killed 26 people in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said Thursday that each shooter was armed with a handgun and assault-style weapon. The guns were purchased legally and registered, he said. The couple wore dark tactical clothing, as well as utility vests stocked with 1,600 rounds of ammunition when they burst into the center's conference room.

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“They sprayed the room with bullets," he said. "I don't know that there was anyone that they openly targeted."

Police found a crude, remote-controlled explosive device made up of three pipe bombs wired together that had been left in a bag at the scene. Burguan said it was not clear whether the killers failed to push the button or the device simply misfired.

Burguan said a search of the couple's home turned up 2,000 9mm rounds, more than 2500 .223-caliber rounds and “several hundred” 22 long rifle ​rounds, as well as 12 pipe bombs and tools for making more explosive devices. He said the pair had rented their black SUV  several days earlier and were supposed to return it on the day of the assault.

Farook legally purchased two handguns at dealers in San Diego and Corona within the past three years, said another federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. Investigators were looking more closely at the transactions involving the two assault-style rifles, which were purchased by another person who was not immediately identified.

Burguan said that although initial reports indicated as many as three shooters may have been involved, "we are confident now" that Farook and Malik acted alone. Farook, who was born in the United States to Pakistani parents, met Malik online and became acquainted with her in Saudi Arabia. He brought her back to the U.S. in 2014. She entered with a Pakistani passport and a visa.

The couple have a 6-month-old daughter, who was left with grandparents on the morning of the shootings.

Although the suspects' motives were unknown, police quote some witnesses as saying Farook had attended the annual holiday party, left in a fit of anger and returned with Malik.

Chris Nwadike, who worked with Farook as a restaurant inspector with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, said Wednesday's gathering was one of two "general education" meetings the department holds each year. The meeting was routine, in which employees receive  awards and other recognition.

Nwadike said he was sitting at a table with Farook, who he knew from around the office. He said that at some point, more than 30 minutes before the shooting, he and his co-workers noticed Farook had left.

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Nwadike said the meeting was on a 15-minute break when the shooting happened, and many participants were outside the room. Nwadike said he was in the bathroom. "If everybody was there, it could have been a total massacre," he said.

He said that he and the others in the bathroom laid down on the floor and remained there until police escorted them out of the building.

"I have not at any time noticed any sign that he would do anything like that," he said. "I can't understand why."

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Farook's brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, said at news conference Wednesday night with the Council on American-Islamic Relations: "On behalf of my family we all are shocked. We are completely shocked and had no idea."

Contributing: Mike James, John Bacon, Liz Szabo and Brad Heath in McLean, Va.; Brett Kelman and Anna Rumer, The (PalmSprings, Calif.) Desert Sun, from San Bernardino