Syed Rizwan Farook

Mass Murderer

Syed Rizwan Farook and the 2015 San Bernardino Massacre

Background

Syed Rizwan Farook was one of two perpetrators responsible for the December 2, 2015, terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, attacked a gathering of his coworkers at the Inland Regional Center, killing 14 people and seriously wounding 22 others. The massacre combined a workplace mass shooting with an unsuccessful bombing attempt and ended several hours later when both attackers were killed during a gun battle with police. Farook was born on June 14, 1987, in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in Southern California. He was an American citizen of Pakistani descent and attended La Sierra High School before earning a degree in environmental health from California State University, San Bernardino. He later became an environmental health specialist for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. His work included inspecting restaurants, swimming pools and other public facilities for compliance with health regulations. Farook traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2014 and returned to the United States with Malik, whom he had met through an online matrimonial service. Malik was born in Pakistan and had spent part of her life in Saudi Arabia. The couple married and settled in Redlands, California. They had a daughter in 2015 and appeared outwardly to maintain a conventional family life.

Radicalization and Preparations

The FBI later concluded that Farook and Malik had privately embraced violent extremist beliefs before the attack. Investigators described them as homegrown violent extremists who were inspired by foreign terrorist organizations but were not directly ordered to carry out the massacre by any particular group. Evidence indicated that they had discussed jihad, martyrdom and violent ideology in private electronic communications. Farook had previously been associated with Enrique Marquez Jr., a friend and former neighbor who purchased two of the rifles later used in the San Bernardino attack. Farook and Marquez had also discussed and planned attacks in 2011 and 2012, including a proposed assault on Riverside City College and an attack on a busy section of California State Route 91. Those plans were abandoned and were never carried out. Before December 2, 2015, Farook and Malik accumulated firearms, ammunition, tactical equipment and materials that could be used to construct explosive devices. Their Redlands residence contained thousands of rounds of ammunition, firearm accessories and pipe-bomb components. The extensive preparations demonstrated that the massacre was not a spontaneous reaction to a disagreement at work.

The Inland Regional Center Gathering

On the morning of December 2, 2015, employees of the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health attended a training session and holiday gathering in a rented conference room at the Inland Regional Center. The facility, located at 1365 South Waterman Avenue in San Bernardino, provides services to people with developmental disabilities. The conference room contained dozens of county employees, many of whom knew Farook through their work. Farook attended part of the gathering and was seen among his coworkers earlier that morning. He left before the shooting began. At approximately 10:58 a.m., Farook and Malik returned to the property wearing dark clothing, masks and tactical-style equipment. They carried two semiautomatic rifles and two semiautomatic pistols, along with numerous loaded magazines. ...

Confirmed Victims: (14)

Robert Adams 40 yr old Male

Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik