One of the deceased suspects behind the San Bernardino shootings on Wednesday has been identified as Syed Farook of Redlands, Calif.
“He was very religious. He would go to work, come back, go to pray, come back. He’s Muslim,” his estranged father of the same name told the New York Daily News.
Farook Sr. said he had not seen his son in some time because of a divorce, noting that his son lived with his ex-wife.
A SWAT team executed a search of the family residence on Wednesday evening. That search flushed out a car containing a heavily armed Farook Jr. He was killed by police in an exchange of gunfire.
A sympathetic neighbor of the deceased suspect said that “maybe two years ago, he became more religious. He grew a beard and started to wear religious clothing: the long shirt that’s like a dress and the cap on his head.”
He may also have traveled to Saudia Arabia, in a pilgrimage to Mecca.
One other suspect who was killed in a shootout with police was identified as Tashfeen Malik, Farook’s wife, who was born in Pakistan. Farook met Malik online and she left Saudi Arabia to join him in the U.S.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement and held a press conference late Wednesday night responding to news that the suspect was affiliated with Islam.
“We condemn this horrific and revolting attack and offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed or injured,” said CAIR Executive Director Hussam Ayloush. “The Muslim community stands shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Americans in repudiating any twisted mindset that would claim to justify such sickening acts of violence.”
At the same presser, Farook Jr.’s visibly shaken brother-in-law Farhad Khan said, “I have no idea why he would do that, why he would do something like this.”
Law enforcement has not provided additional details about the three shooters or their motives. Police have one other person in custody following a late morning shooting at the county Department of Health office that left 14 people dead and 17 injured.
