FBI probes California attack as terrorism

UPDATE: The FBI announced this afternoon it is officially investigating Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., as an act of terrorism. The announcement follows another revelation from social media giant Facebook, which said the female attacker praised the leader of ISIS in a post published right about the time of the attack.

The company discovered the post on Thursday, removed the account from public view, and notified police. Earlier today a law enforcement official said Tashfeen Malik had pledged allegiance to the Islamic terror group on Facebook using a fake name. Malik, 27, was a Pakistani native who grew up in Saudi Arabia.

Despite her admiration for the group, officials say they have found no evidence so far that operatives overseas communicated with Malik, raising the possibility that the attack was motivated but not directed by ISIS.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (11:30 a.m. EST):The woman who helped carry out Wednesday’s attack in San Bernardino, Calif., pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) on Facebook using a fake name. She deleted the posts before the attack, investigators announced this morning.

Until now, police have been reluctant to draw connections between Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik and terrorism. Investigators insist they still don’t know what motivated the two to go on a shooting rampage that left 14 dead and 21 wounded. But it appears increasingly likely Islamic extremism played a role.

Officials who confirmed Malik’s social media postings did not give any details about what else she might have said. Malik, originally from Pakistan, came to the United States on a fiancée visa in 2014 and married Farook on Aug. 16, 2014. They have a 6-month-old daughter.

This morning’s revelation comes just hours after Farook’s brother-in-law insisted on NBC News that his wife’s brother wasn’t a radical. He acknowledged he might have been a “bad person,” and said he was angry with Farook over the attack.

Farook had worked for five years for the county health department as a restaurant inspector. Nearly all the victims were his co-workers, who had gathered for a holiday party. Despite claims of possible workplace grievances, no details have emerged about any conflicts with co-workers or supervisors. The colleagues who survived the attack described Farook as quiet but nice and not inclined to talk about his religion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.