--- description: Tafsheen Malik pledged support to Islamic extremism in private Facebook messages to her friends, officials said. title: San Bernardino Shooter Supported Jihad: Officials image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfcde940477388119/698875882dce0135759e6f54/california-shootings-_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Terrorism](/tag/terrorism/) ## Terrorism Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # San Bernardino Shooter Tashfeen Malik Supported Jihad, Officials Say by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2015 3:32 AM CUT  This July 27, 2014 file photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows Tashfeen Malik, left, and Syed Farook, as they passed through O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. This July 27, 2014 file photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows Tashfeen Malik, left, and Syed Farook, as they passed through O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.AP by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2015 3:32 AM CUT Tashfeen Malik, one of the attackers in this month’s shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., [sent Facebook messages](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-malik-facebook-messages-jihad-20151214-story.html "undefined") to friends in Pakistan expressing a desire to become a jihadi fighter, according to two top law enforcement officials involved in the investigation of the incident. Malik, 27, sent at least two separate messages in 2012 and 2014 pledging her support to the cause of Islamic jihad, the officials told the Los Angeles _Times_ on condition of anonymity. The messages were “her private communications…to a small group of her friends,” one of them told the _Times._ Malik and her husband Syed Rizwan Farook were both killed in a battle with local police on Dec. 2 soon after they [opened fire](http://time.com/4134068/san-bernardino-shooting-is-deadliest-since-2012/ "undefined") on a crowd at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, killing 14 and wounding at least 21 people. \[[_Los Angeles Times_](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-malik-facebook-messages-jihad-20151214-story.html "undefined")\] Read next: [Why the San Bernardino Shooting Is Unprecedented](http://time.com/4135049/san-bernardino-shooting-psychology/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4150851/san-bernardino-tafsheen-malik-radicalized-jihad/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4150851/san-bernardino-tafsheen-malik-radicalized-jihad/"},"headline":"San Bernardino Shooter Tashfeen Malik Supported Jihad, Officials Say","datePublished":"2015-12-16T03:32:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:24:41.581Z","description":"She reportedly wanted to become a jihadi fighter","url":"https://time.com/4150851/san-bernardino-tafsheen-malik-radicalized-jihad/","keywords":["Terrorism","Crime","facebook","ISIS","Jihad","Friends","San Bernardino Shooting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfcde940477388119/698875882dce0135759e6f54/california-shootings-_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfcde940477388119/698875882dce0135759e6f54/california-shootings-_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tashfeen Malik, Syed Farook","caption":"Tashfeen Malik, Syed Farook","creditText":"AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/terrorism/","name":"Terrorism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4150851/san-bernardino-tafsheen-malik-radicalized-jihad/","name":"San Bernardino Shooter Tashfeen Malik Supported Jihad, Officials Say"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Two Dead San Bernardino Shooting Suspects Named","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8crzTekT/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-03T02:30:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8crzTekT.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4150851/san-bernardino-tafsheen-malik-radicalized-jihad/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4150851/san-bernardino-tafsheen-malik-radicalized-jihad/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```