Law enforcement officials said on Thursday that Syed Rizwan Farook was radicalized and in touch with terror suspects prior to the shooting rampage on Wednesday that left 14 dead and 21 wounded, according to CNN.
Quoting unidentified law enforcement sources, CNN reported that the suspects Farook had contacted were being investigated by the FBI for international terrorism.
It remains unclear, however, whether radicalization was the only driver behind the carnage, CNN reported. Workplace concerns may have also played a role.
The Associated Press has reported Farook was born in the U.S. to a Pakistani family, was raised in Southern California and had been a San Bernardino County employee for five years, according to authorities and acquaintances.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said he had no information on Malik’s background. Relatives said Farook had traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet his wife.
Earlier this year, he traveled to Saudi Arabia, was gone for about a month and returned with a wife, later growing a beard.
The couple dropped off their daughter with relatives Wednesday morning, saying they had a doctor’s appointment, Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said after talking with family.
“We don’t know the motives. Is it work, rage-related? Is it mental illness? Is it extreme ideology? At this point, it’s really unknown to us, and at this point it’s too soon to speculate,” Ayloush said.
Co-workers told the Los Angeles Times that Farook was a devout Muslim but didn’t talk about religion at work.