California shooter Farook received $28,500 before killings

WASHINGTON: Two weeks before he and his Pakistani wife went on to kill 14 people in California, a USD 28,500 deposit was made to the account of slain gunman Syed Farook, a media report has said.

Farook received this amount from WebBank.com, which on its website describes itself as "a leading provider of national consumer and commercial private-label and bank card financing programmes on a nationwide basis," investigations revealed.

"Investigators are exploring whether the transaction was a loan taken out by Farook," Fox News said in an exclusive report on the deadly shooting at San Bernardino.

Farook, whose parents migrated to the US from Pakistan, earned USD 53,000 a year as an environmental health inspector.

He and his Pakistani immigrant wife, Tashfeen Malik, went on a shooting rampage last Wednesday that President Barack Obama described as an act of terrorism.

Yesterday, FBI officials told reporters that the terrorist couple were radicalised for some time.

"Both subjects were radicalised and have been for quite some time," said David Bowdich, FBI assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles Field Office.

"How did that happen and by whom and where did that happen? I will tell you right now, we don't know those answers at this point," he said.

Responding to questions, Bowdich said investigators have found evidence of pre-planning.

Without going into much detail, he said the terrorist couple were frequent visitors to the Los Angeles shooting range for target practice.

Farook visited the Riverside Magnum Range and practiced shooting an AR-15 there, according to a firearms instructor at the facility.

"He came in like a normal guy," firearms instructor John Galletta told the Los Angeles Times.

According to Fox News, on or around November 20, Farook converted $10,000 to cash, and withdrew the money at a Union Bank branch in San Bernardino.

"Afterwards, in the days before the shooting, there were at least three transfers of $5,000 that appear to be to Farook's mother," the media outlet said.

Farook, 28, and Tashfeen, 27, who had a six-month-old baby, died in a shootout with police hours after the murders.

According to the Los Angeles Times, federal investigators are trying to determine if Farook was influenced by a terrorism figure known as "Miski," who earlier this year sought to direct the attempted attack on a cartoon contest in Texas.