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US officials search for missed red flags ahead of shootings

A garage door of Enrique Marquez's home is seen broken in a recent FBI raid, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, in Riverside, Calif. Authorities have said Enrique Marquez, an old friend of San Bernardino attacker Syed Farook, purchased two assault rifles used in last week's fatal shooting that killed 14 people. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A garage door of Enrique Marquez's home is seen broken in a recent FBI raid, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, in Riverside, Calif. Authorities have said Enrique Marquez, an old friend of San Bernardino attacker Syed Farook, purchased two assault rifles used in last week's fatal shooting that killed 14 people. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) A garage door of Enrique Marquez's home is seen broken in a recent FBI raid, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, in Riverside, Calif. Authorities have said Enrique Marquez, an old friend of San Bernardino attacker Syed Farook, purchased two assault rifles used in last week's fatal shooting that killed 14 people. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. government appears not to have picked up on extremist messages exchanged during the online courtship two years ago between the American-born man accused in the California shootings and his then-fiancée in Pakistan. That’s according to lawmakers detailing closed-door briefings Thursday by federal officials on Capitol Hill.

American officials say 28-year-old Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, 29-year-old Tashfeen Malik, discussed martyrdom and jihad online as early as 2013. But the couple never surfaced on law enforcement’s radar and Malik was able to enter the U.S. on a fiancée visa last year despite having professed radical views online.

The two killed 14 people last week at a holiday party in San Bernardino. The couple died in a shootout with law enforcement hours after the attack.

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