In their comfortable home on a quiet, tidy street, he got ready for work and she prepared their six-month-old baby girl to stay with grandma for the day.
But their otherwise regular family routine was punctuated by them tinkering with the massive cache of weaponry packed into their home.
Into the black SUV they’d rented, they didn’t pack lunches or a change of clothes for the gym — they packed enough ammunition to slay hundreds of Americans.
They packed long guns and pistols, and then the rounds.
Farook went off to work in his regular clothes. He probably said good morning to his colleagues but perhaps not much else.
He was known to be polite but quiet. The kind of guy who would mainly say hello and goodbye and leave it at that.
Still, he was well enough liked that his colleagues had a baby shower when Malik was expecting their first child.
Malik set up a registry at Target, asking for the things a little girl needs. No one knew then that before the baby girl’s first birthday she’d be an orphan.
When mid-morning rolled around on Wednesday, Farook joined his colleagues at their annual Christmas lunch. But he didn’t stay long.
He left and changed his clothes to match his wife’s — black combat gear and masks. And then together, they unleashed hell.
The second she heard a report of a mass shooting on TV, Farook’s mother panicked, knowing he worked there.
It was the standard response in America, a place where everyone is so used to mass shootings they immediately fear their loved one could be caught in the crossfire.
She desperately tried to reach her dear son. Then his wife. Nothing.
There is no indication her mind went to the idea that it was in fact her beloved son unleashing the horror.
Farook’s mother had given him a regular American upbringing while the family continued to practice as devout Muslims.
Farook was well known in the local Muslim community, having spent many years showing up to the Islamic Centre of Riverside twice a day for prayers.
Born in Chicago, Farook went to public schools and became an environmental health specialist after graduating from California State University in 2010.
AS the FBI
investigates the San Bernardino mass shooting as an act of terrorism, questions
are being asked about Tashfeen Malik’s role in influencing her husband Sayed
Farook.
While there is far less known about
his wife, although authorities are considering the possibility that Malik, 27, radicalized
her husband.
Former colleagues also questioned
Malik’s role in radicalizing Farook.
Christian Nwadike, a former
co-worker, believes he “changed” after returning from his second visit to Saudi
Arabia.
“I think he married a terrorist,”
Nwadilke told CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront.
Nwadike said he believes Farook was
‘set up’ to commit the massacre through his marriage to Malik.
Another friend, Abdul Aziz Ahmed, said Farook stopped attending a mosque
after he and Malik tied the knot.“He was looking good, he seemed good (after returning from Saudi Arabia),’ Ahmed told CNN.
“But then he disappeared (after the wedding).”
“He came to the mosque every day for two years. How can this happen, a guy who was very good?” he added.
“You didn’t hear him talking about those mad men, these terrorists.”
In 2014 Farook spent nine days in Saudi Arabia to collect Malik and return to the US with her. In 2013 he was there for the hajj pilgrimage.
Mustafa Kuko, director of the Islamic Centre of Riverside, told the New York Times Farook had sought his blessing when he went to marry Malik.
“He did double check on her family background and he was quite convinced that she was the right person for him,” Mr Kuko said.
Mr Kuko is as shocked as everyone else who knew Farook: “He’s a mosque-goer … I never thought of him as someone who is violent.”
The trips to Saudi Arabia were too short to raise the suspicion from authorities. In fact, the couple had never been on their radar.
Authorities are baffled by the mysterious couple.
The pair has left behind no note to explain their actions — at least not one investigators have found.
They have no clear evidence yet that the couple was radicalised and yet, they will continue to hunt for it.
Because, to them, the idea that a regular suburban couple stockpiles an armoury that could slay thousands seems to be about something more than a regular workplace dispute.
The FBI is investigating the San Bernardino mass shooting as an act of terrorism as it emerged that one of the killer’s made a pledge to ISIS during the massacre.
David Bowditch, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said the mass shooting that killed 14 people at a work party was now being investigated as “an act of terrorism”.
The announcement came shortly after it was revealed that Malik, the female shooter, pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Facebook during the massacre.
It was told by three US officials familiar with the investigation that Malik had posted the pledge on an account with a different name.
The New York Times quoted a federal law official that there was no evidence the group directed Malik and Farook in the brutal slaughter, but that it was likely they were “self-radicalized and inspired by the group”.
While Mr Bowditch gave no specific reason for why the investigation was now focusing on terrorism he said he was aware of the Facebook post.
“She was like a typical housewife,” lawyer David Chesley said, who is acting on behalf of the Farook family.
He described Malik as “caring, soft-spoken” and a devout Muslim who prayed five times a day, chose not to drive and “kept pretty well isolated”.
The FBI said it lacked evidence the pair belonged to a larger organization of extremists.
However, the Los Angeles Times cited a federal law enforcement source in reporting her husband had contact with at least two militant groups overseas, including the al qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in Syria.
He also told a press conference in San Bernardino that the killers had apparently tried to “destroy their digital footprint” after two crushed mobile phones were found in a rubbish bin near the crime scene.
On Friday, the home of Farook and Malik was opened to reporters by the landlord of the property.
In bizarre scenes the media were granted access to the Redlands home, where they rushed in and went through personal effects, which included photo IDs and a wide array of documents and photographs – in addition to the couple’s baby toys.
The new developments came as it emerged that Farook was teased about his Islamic beard by work colleagues.
Lawyers for the family of Farook said colleagues had made disparaging remarks about his beard, but that he had “brushed off” the criticism.
The lawyers’ claims came after it emerged that Farook had heated arguments about his faith with one of his fellow restaurant inspectors, Nicholas Thalasinos, a Messianic Jew, who died in the mass shooting.
Thalasinos’ Facebook page is littered with anti-Muslim rants.
His friend, Kuuleme Stephens, told The Associated Press that she called him while he was working with Farook, and that he brought her into their debate, loudly declaring that Farook “doesn’t agree that Islam is not a peaceful religion.”
She said she heard Farook reply that Americans don’t understand Islam and Thalasinos say, “I don’t know how to talk with him.”
Farook and Malik, who was a
Pakistani national and was in the US on a visa, fired up to 75 rounds in the
conference room at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California,
claiming 14 lives and injuring a further 21.
Fleeing the scene they left behind
an elaborate pipe bomb that they apparently planned to detonate remotely later
to cause even more carnage.
.
A couple of hours later they were
killed in a dramatic shootout where they fired 76 rounds at police, who
returned fire with about 380.
Investigators later discovered a
huge arsenal — at least 12 more pipe bombs, 2000 9mm rounds, 2500 223 rounds
and hundreds of long-rifle rounds — at the couple’s home.
Littered around the armoury were
hundreds of tools used to make DIY bombs.
“You know, that’s not Islam. Islam condemns killing or hurting anybody,” Ms Khan told CBS News.
It also emerged that Farook’s older brother, Syed Raheel Farook, is a decorated Navy veteran honoured for his role in the war on terror.
The former marine, who lives with his wife and daughter in Corona, California, was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, according to Buzzfeed.
Details have emerged about Farook’s turbulent upbringing.
Divorce records depicted a home divided by abuse.
Farook’s mother alleged in 2006 that her husband, also named Syed, attacked her while her children were present, dropped a TV on her and pushed her toward a car, according to records.
Rafia Sultana Farook filed a petition for a domestic violence order of protection on July 3, 2006, against her husband.
She said she was forced to move out with three of her children because her husband continually harassed her “verbally and physically,” according to the divorce records.
Meanwhile, Mr Chesley has questioned the official account of the mass shooting.
“There have been suggestions that it may be something that was related to their work, that somehow he was a disgruntled employee,” he said.
“But it doesn’t seem plausible to us that this petite woman would be involved in this sort of hyper-caricatured, Bonnie and Clyde crazy scenario.”
To make his point he made a strange reference to the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, appearing to suggest it hadn’t taken place as described in the official account and may not have been “a real incident”.
His brother was in the US navy and they were close to their mother.
It’s believed he earned upwards of $US50,000 ($70,000) a year. A good salary — the mean wage in the US is roughly the same, and the median far less.
His landlord said he was basically the perfect tenant.
“He had no red flags whatsoever. Everything checked out. He had good credit reports, everything.
We screen our people pretty good,” Doyle Miller said.
Like many young American man, Farook had looked for love online. He chose an Islamic dating site.
His old profile read: “Enjoys working on vintage and modern cars, reads religious books, enjoys eating out sometimes. Enjoys travelling and just hanging out in the backyard doing target practice with his younger sister and friends.”
He described himself as having “eastern and western” values.
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