US officials search for missed red flags ahead of shootings

FBI briefs Congress on investigation

John Galletta, a firearms instructor at Riverside Magnum Range, walks at the range Monday in Riverside, Calif. Galletta says Syed Farook, who opened fire on a gathering of his co-workers last week in San Bernardino, Calif., practiced with a rifle at the range before the attack.

W California Shootings Ledb 4 — John Galletta, a firearms instructor at Riverside Magnum Range, walks at the range Monday in Riverside, Calif. Galletta says Syed Farook, who opened fire on a gathering of his co-workers last week in San Bernardino, Calif., practiced with a rifle at the range before the attack.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government appears not to have picked up on extremist messages exchanged during the online courtship two years ago between the American-born man accused in the California shootings and his future wife in Pakistan, according to closed-door briefings to Congress provided by federal officials on Thursday. American officials say Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, discussed martyrdom and jihad online as early as 2013. But the couple never surfaced on law enforcement's radar and Malik was able to enter the U.S. on a fiancée visa last year despite having professed radical views online, raising concerns among lawmakers about whether any red flags were missed in the last two years.

Associated Press

Associated Press