Here is a summary from CNN of what they say is known.
San Bernardino shooting: Who are Syed Rezwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik?Posted 5:52 am, December 3, 2015
CNN Wire Service
Here is what we know about the attackers: Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik.
They are a couple
Police say Farook, 28, and Malik, 27, are either married or in a relationship. The Council on American Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, said Farook has been married for two years — but wouldn’t confirm whether Malik was the wife’s name.
...
Farook, an American citizen, was an environmental health specialist with the San Bernardino County health department, which was hosting the holiday party at Inland Regional.
He had been there five years. Records list a man with his name and title who worked at the agency and made $53,000 in 2013.
...
Farook was at the party but left abruptly before the shooting. He seemed angry, witnesses told police. He returned. And, along with Malik, he went into the building and began firing.
,,,
The attackers were “dressed in dark, kind of tactical gear,†Burguan said. They carried rifles and semi-automatic handguns.
...
“These were people that came prepared,†he said. “There had to have been some degree of planning that went into this.â€
They intended to inflict more damage
A bag believed to belong to the shooters was found inside the conference room. Inside, investigators found three rudimentary explosive devices packed with black powder and rigged to a remote controlled car. The remote for the car was found inside the SUV where Farook and Malik were later killed, a law enforcement official said.
CNN does not mention it, but there is at least one Islamic Center in San Bernardino. I wonder if
anyone has looked into whether Farook attended there, what teachers he may have favored if he did, etc.. That he went to Saudi Arabia for a wife suggests he was less westernized than he claimed, or that he had turned Islamic.
While Farook attacked people he had worked with, it's rather obvious impulse had no part. He and Malik had gathered weapons, Kevlar vests, rigged a robot car with explosives and attacked at a party they knew was scheduled, (and which Farook had attended in at least one previous year). So this was not "workplace violence", in the sense of some one who had conflicts with their boss or coworkers and got so angry that (s)he decided to kill them.
Right now I think it reasonable to say that DU-member
maxsolomon's possibility #3, "ISIL/Jihadis" looks closest to the motive for the shooting, though Farook and Malik may have been acting on their own part, possibly influenced by a particular teacher at the Islamic Center or some family member, rather than being members of ISIS or A-Q or some other terror group. Time may tell on that point.
maxsolomon's possibility #3, "ISIL/Jihadis"was the one he liked least, because of his politics. This is shaping up to be another, "reality is hard on Progs and Prog ideology" incident. Have the,
"This is too convenient for name of bogeyman here!" conspiracy theories started popping up on DU yet?
