Authorities have yet to determine a motive behind the San Bernardino shooting Wednesday where a married couple killed 14 and injured 17.
Here is what we do know:
Syed Rizwan Farook worked as an environmental health specialist with the San Bernardino County Health Department, which was hosting a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center where the attacks took place.
Farook attended the party but left 20 minutes before the attack in an angry state without giving his colleagues any notice.
He then returned with his wife Tashfeen Malik “dressed in dark, kind of tactical gear.” They carried rifles and semi-automatic handguns, two of which Farook purchased legally three and four years ago, according to San Bernardino police Chief Jarrod Burguan.
“These were people that came prepared,” Burguan says. “There had to have been some degree of planning that went into this.”
Farook was wearing a ski mask but witnesses were still able to recognize him.
Witness reports led police to the suspects’ house in nearby Redlands where they spotted Farook and Malik in an SUV hours after the attack. A shootout between police and the suspects took place in the neighborhood. Malik drove the car while Farook fired through the back window. Both suspects died in the chase, which included 21 officers.
Authorities believe the couple intended to cause more damage by detonating three rudimentary explosive devices packed with black powder left behind in a bag at the scene. The explosives were rigged to a remote-controlled car and the remote was later found in the SUV.
Farook was born in Illinois and was an American citizen. He had a $53,000 income as of 2013.
He graduated from California State University, San Bernardino with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health.
His co-workers described him as a quiet character that was polite but rarely engaged in conversations. The co-workers were aware of Farook’s religious beliefs as a Muslim but never saw any signs of radicalized beliefs.
A man that identified himself as Farook’s estranged father told The New York Daily Mail Farook lived a very religious lifestyle.
“He would go to work, come back, go to pray, come back,” he says.
Farook and Malik first met online and started talking before Farook travelled to visit her in Saudi Arabia two years ago. The time of the trip indicates Farook was taking part in the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. Farook returned to the U.S. with Malik as his new wife on a K-1, or fiancee, visa. Malik is originally from Pakistan but lived in Saudi Arabia.
His co-workers were under the belief that the two “lived the American dream” with their 6-month-old daughter, who the couple dropped off with Farook’s grandmother before Farook headed to the Christmas party. The grandmother says the couple needed a babysitter during their doctor’s appointment in the morning.
It is unclear which website the couple met through, but Farook had a profile on iMilap.com, a dating site “for people with disabilities and second marriage.” (RELATED: Syed Farooks Dating Profile Shows He Liked Reading Religious Books And Shooting Target Practice)
On his profile he describes his family as “religious [sic] but modern family of 4, 2 girls 2 boys.”
His interests include “working on vintage and modern cars, read religious books, enjoy eating out sometimes travel and just hang out in back yard doing target practice with younger sister and friends.”
Farook’s family was shocked to hear the news of the shooting and the couple didn’t appear to have left a note behind. Farhan Khan, Farook’s brother-in-law, says he saw him last week and didn’t notice any strange behavior.
“I cannot express how sad I am,” he said at an Islamic Center in Anaheim. “I have no idea why he would do that … I am in shock that something like this would happen.”
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