Shooting Suspect Pledged Support To Islamic State Using Alias Before Attack

In this image taken from video, armored vehicles surround an SUV following a shootout in San Bernardino, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. The scene followed a military-style attack that killed multiple people and wou... In this image taken from video, armored vehicles surround an SUV following a shootout in San Bernardino, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. The scene followed a military-style attack that killed multiple people and wounded others at a California center that serves people with developmental disabilities, authorities said. (KTTV via AP) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Officials believe as the massacre on a county employee holiday party was underway Wednesday, suspect Tashfeen Malik pledged her allegiance to an Islamic State leader on Facebook, CNN reported Friday.

An anonymous U.S. official told the network Malik, the wife of fellow attacker Syed Rizwan Farook, posted support for IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi using an account registered to another name. The couple also took steps to delete their online postings in the days leading up to the attack.

Officials have not formally labeled the mass shooting, which left 14 dead and 21 wounded, an act of terrorism. They have also not offered a motive for the attack, and there remains no evidence that the Islamic State directed the couple to carry out the shooting.

“At this point we believe they were more self-radicalized and inspired by the group than actually told to do the shooting,” an unnamed official told The New York Times.

Malik was a Pakistani woman who entered the U.S. in 2014 on a so-called fiancee visa and became a conditional U.S. citizen when she married Farook. Both were killed in a shootout with police hours after the attack.

This post has been updated.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: