California gunman 'was a bad person, but not a radical'

The brother-in-law of one of the attackers in the US social services centre massacre has said he was a “bad person” but not a radical.

Farhan Khan was speaking after US intelligence sources said Syed Farook had been in contact with known Islamic extremists on social media.

Farook (pictured) and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people at a party at the centre for disabled people in San Bernardino, California.

Mr Khan told NBC News he is beginning the legal process to adopt Farook’s six-month-old daughter, who was dropped off with relatives on Wednesday morning before the attack.

The couple were killed in a shootout with police following the rampage, and Mr Khan expressed disbelief and anger that Farook would leave behind his baby girl.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the rampage was terrorism, a workplace grudge or a combination of factors. The killers were not under FBI scrutiny before the massacre, a US official said.

Farook, 28, a restaurant inspector, and Malik, 27, sprayed as many as 75 rounds into a room at the centre, where about 75 of Farook’s co-workers had gathered.

Farook had attended the event but slipped out and they returned in combat gear, wielding assault rifles.

Four hours later and two miles away, the couple died in a furious gun battle in which they fired 76 rounds, while 23 law enforcement officers unleashed about 380, police said.

At the centre, the couple left three pipe bombs with a remote-control detonating device that apparently malfunctioned and had more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition remaining when police killed them in their rented pick-up truck.

At a family home in the nearby town of Redlands, they had 12 pipe bombs, tools for making more, and more than 3,000 additional rounds of ammunition.

Investigators are trying to determine whether Farook, who was Muslim, became radicalised as well as whether he was in contact with any foreign terrorist organisation.