San Bernardino Shooters Intended To Blow Up Regional Inland Center
San Bernardino terror couple Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen may have intended to bomb the Inland Regional Center to cause collateral damage, a federal complaint made in the case suggests.
According to LA Times, Farook had placed a bag containing pipe bombs in the center before leaving to fetch his wife for the massacre. The center was hosting a party that was attended by Farook's colleagues. Though the bomb did not go off, the shootout left 14 dead at the center. In the complaint filed against Enqirue Marquez, Farook's neighbor and friend who owned the assault rifles used in the shootout, investigators have charged him on three counts.
The complaint also revealed that Marquez was a would-be terrorist in 2011 when he, along with Farook, planned an attack on Riverside Community College and a busy state route. CBS News reports that Marquez admitted to plotting the attack to target the college's cafeteria besides disabling traffic on Route 91 with explosives and firing up on commuters and law enforcement officials.
Marquez reportedly claimed that the 2011 attack was called off following terror-related arrests in California soon after. Though Marquez claimed he was not involved in the December 2 shootout, he posted suspicious social media messages claiming involvement in terror related acts about a month before the attack, reports NBC News. He was charged and arrested on Thursday for purchasing the two assault rifles used in the attack, planning terror attacks with Farook in addition to being in a fake marriage with sister of Farook's sister-in-law.
