SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., Dec. 9 (UPI) — Federal investigators are examining a $28,000 bank deposit into an account linked to California shooter Syed Rizwan Farook and that he and wife Tashfeen Malik may have been plotting an attack since 2012.
Farook got the debt-consolidation loan through online lender Prosper shortly before the Dec. 2 shooting that left 14 dead and 21 injured at a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center. The funds were not issued by Prosper, but instead by WebBank, a federally regulated lender in Utah.
The money, in addition to Farook’s $53,000-a-year salary as a San Bernardino health inspector, may have been used to acquire last-minute weapons, including guns and bomb components. It may also explain how the couple paid for target practice at local gun ranges and a rented sport utility vehicle used during the attack. Malik did not work outside the home.
Authorities also said Farook and Malik had been practicing their shooting skills at a local gun range for more than a year before the attack on Dec. 2 at a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center. Officials said they had a target but “got spooked” and backed out after unrelated terror arrests in the area.
The ongoing investigation is also looking at Farook’s mother Rafia Farook, who lived with the couple and was left to care for the couple’s 6-month-old daughter.
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