California woman shooter Tashfeen Malik was radicalised operative: Reports

WASHINGTON: US investigators believe the Pakistani woman, whom the FBI has identified as one of the two suspects in the deadly mass shooting in California last week, was a radicalised operative, according to media reports here.

Officials investigating last week's shooting are looking very strongly into the possibility that 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik was "an operative," an official told Fox News yesterday.

The shooting in San Bernardino that killed 14 people was carried out by Malik and her Pakistani-American husband Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, both of whom were radicalised, officials said.

The couple were shot dead by the police in an exchange of fire hours after the shooting.

Chicago-born Farook's parents had migrated to the US from Pakistan. Investigating officers said they are looking into the possibility of radicalisation of their family members.

Fox news reported officials were looking "very closely" at Mailk's family overseas as also being radicalised.

An official said the "number one" way terrorist groups are recruiting is through family, with the internet being second.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that the couple obtained $28,500 in cash loan weeks before the shooting, indicating they were planning the attack for some time.

Investigators have accounted for all the money and do not believe any of it was provided to the killers by any outside entity, CNN has reported.

According to The Washington Post, both Farook and Malik had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

"It's looking like they were on the same path at the same time," an official was quoted as saying.

A CNN investigation has found that the couple had planned another terrorist attack in 2012 and a specific target was considered.

The pair "got spooked" and decided not to go through with the earlier attack after a round of terror-related arrests in the area, an official said.