Gun buyer, killer may have planned an attack in 2012
Officials dig into San Bernardino terrorist’s past
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The gunman who massacred his co-workers in the San Bernardino rampage and the friend who bought the assault rifles used in the shooting were related through marriage and may have plotted an attack together three years ago.
New revelations from officials and public records show a much deeper connection between Syed Rizwan Farook and Enrique Marquez than previously was disclosed.
Marquez purchased high-powered weapons at least three years ago that Farook and his wife fired when they burst into a holiday-themed meeting of Farook’s fellow health inspectors Dec. 2, killing 14 people and wounding 21 others.
Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 29, were killed hours later in a shootout with police, leaving behind a six-month-old daughter.
FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the two shooters were radicalized well before Malik came to the U.S. on a fiancée visa and they had discussed jihad and martyrdom as early as 2013.
Investigators are trying to determine if Farook’s path toward extremism predated that time and whether it led to plans to launch an attack in 2012.
Marquez and Farook “were plotting an actual attack” that year, including purchasing weapons, but became apprehensive and shelved the plan because of law enforcement activity and arrests in the area, said Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, a Republican who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Marquez, 24, spoke with federal authorities after they raided his mother’s Riverside house over the weekend. He has not been charged with a crime.
Marquez and Farook have been friends for years and became family last year with a sister-in-law in common. The two men were listed as witnesses on the marriage license when Farook’s brother, Raheel, wed a Russian woman in 2011.
Three years later, Raheel Farook and his wife, Tatiana, were witnesses to Marquez’s nuptials with her sister, Mariya Chernykh, according to Riverside County records.
Marquez spoke of wanting to join the military, Viviana Ramirez, 23, a fellow student at Riverside Community College told the Los Angeles Times.
His brother-in-law, Raheel Farook, is a Navy veteran, serving from 2003 to 2007 and earning the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, among other awards.
Marquez rarely spoke about his family or his marriage, Ramirez said.
Tommy Lopez, who said he became friends with Marquez after meeting at a punk rock show seven months ago, said he never talked about his wife and was not religious.
He last saw Marquez in the past month or so when Marquez fell asleep at a friend’s house and they stacked beer cans on his body.
“When he woke up he just started laughing,” Lopez said. “He was a pretty laidback guy.”
Right after the shootings, Marquez called his mother to say he was safe, but that he wouldn’t be coming home, neighbour Lorena Aguirre said. He later checked into a mental health facility. It’s unclear where he is now.