California shooting couple turns out to be IS supporters

SAN FRANCISCO: The Pakistani wife of the Pakistani-American man who together carried out the deadly California shooting, pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Facebook and had radicalised her husband before the attack that killed 14 people, US investigators said on Friday.

Officials said that as the attack in San Bernardino unfolded, 27-year-old female shooter Tashfeen Malik posted a pledge of allegiance to IS leader al-Baghdadi on Facebook, three US officials familiar with the probe told CNN. They said Malik’s post was made on an account with a different name, one US official said. The officials did not explain how they knew Malik made the post. A law enforcement official said it appeared that Wednesday’s attack — that killed 14 and wounded 21 before the Malik and her 28-yearold husband Syed Rizwan Farook were killed in a shootout with police — may have been inspired by Islamic State terror group. But none of the officials said that IS directed or ordered the attack. “This is looking more and more like self-radicalisation,” a law enforcement official said.

Another official said authorities haven’t ruled out that others may have influenced this radical view. In addition, the law enforcement source said investigators have a greater focus on whether the shooting occurred after a workplace issue with religion. Malik may have radicalised her husband investigators said a day after the heavily-armed couple opened indiscriminate fire during a party at a social service centre for people with disabilities in San Bernardino, California. Law enforcement sources said that there was a “very strong” possibility that Malik functioned as Farook’s terror trainer and may have even put together pipe bombs found by authorities at the various crime scenes.