Update 3:41 p.m. ET: FBI Director James Comey said in a media briefing there is no indication the two suspects in the shooting are part of a larger network, or a terrorist "cell."
"There was nothing in our holdings about these two killers," he said, noting that despite reports, the apparent contact with extremists did not rise to a level as to be alarming to authorities.
Comey asked the public to remain vigilant, and to report any unusual activity to law enforcement.
"What we hope you will do is not let fear become disabling ... If you see something that doesn't make sense, that you say something," he said.
Update 2:47 p.m. ET: The FBI is now in charge of the investigation and has now determined Wednesday's attack was an "act of terrorism."
FBI Los Angeles Assistant Director in Charge, David Bowdich, made the announcement during a news conference Friday.
Bowdich said cell phone recovered from a nearby garbage can were crushed and that experts are trying to retrieve information from the devices.
Bowdich said they are following up on telephone connections between the couple and other organizations.
--
ORIGINAL POST: Officials say there was a link between a wife, who along with her husband, went on a deadly shooting rampage this week and the terrorist Islamic State group, multiple media outlets are reporting.
Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook opened fire during a holiday party Wednesday and left 14 dead and 21 wounded.
According to CNN, Malik pledged allegiance to Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, officials told the news network.
Officials said a post was made by Malik under a Facebook account with a different name.
It was made as the attacks happened, The Associated Press reported.
She deleted the posts after the attack, the AP reported.
Officials did not tell CNN how they discovered that she posted the pledge.
Malik and Farook were gunned down hours later a few miles from the Inland Regional Center, where the attack happened.
U.S. intelligence officials said that Farook had been in contact with known Islamic extremists on social media, media outlets reported Thursday.
Police said Farook, 28, was a San Bernardino County restaurant inspector, born in Chicago to Pakistani parents. He was raised in Southern California. Malik, 27, was Pakistani, but grew up in Saudi Arabia. She came to the U.S. in 2014, the AP reported.
Farook had no criminal record and was not on a watch list by either local of federal law enforcement before Wednesday's massacre.
Relatives said Farook traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet his wife.
The couple had a 6-month-old daughter.
About the Author