California Shooting Investigation Update

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) -- A U.S. official says the FBI was treating the mass shooting in California as a potential act of terror but had reached no conclusion it was.

The official was briefed on the investigation but wasn't authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said Syed Rizwan Farook communicated with individuals who were under FBI scrutiny in connection with a terrorism investigation. But the official said the contact was with "people who weren't significant players on our radar," dated back some time, and there was no immediate indication of any "surge" in communication ahead of the shooting.

The official said Farook and his wife weren't on the FBI's radar before the shooting, which killed 14.

The official said the communication was a "potential factor" but cautioned that "contact with individuals who are subjects of investigations in and of itself doesn't mean that you are a terrorist."

- From Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C.

_________________________________________________________________________

One of the shooters who killed 14 people at a California social service center was a conditional resident in the U.S. after marrying a citizen.

The FBI says Tashfeen Malik came to the U.S. in July 2014 on a Pakistani passport and a so-called fiancée visa. To get the visa, she had to submit to an in-person interview and biometric and background checks to ensure she wasn't a threat to public safety or national security.

By law, Malik had 90 days to get married or leave the country. She became a conditional resident after marrying Syed Farook. Two years after the wedding, she could have applied to stay in the U.S. permanently.

Malik and Farook opened fire on a holiday banquet of Farook's co-workers and then died in a shootout with police Wednesday.

_________________________________________________________________________

A U.S. intelligence official says one of the shooters who killed 14 people in California had been in touch on social media with extremists who are under FBI scrutiny.

The official would not further describe the contacts by Syed Rizwan Farook. He would not be quoted because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The official says investigators are still trying to determine whether and how he became radicalized and whether he was in contact with any foreign terrorist organization.

- From Associated Press writer Ken Dilanian in Washington, D.C.