Report: Syed Farook may have planned attack in 2012 but 'got spooked'

Catherine Garcia, The Week US's avatar
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Syed Farook's town home.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Along with one other person, San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook may have been planning to attack a target in California in 2012, two U.S. officials told CNN Tuesday.

Law enforcement officials said that Farook was radicalized long before the mass shooting last week that killed 14 people. The pair had a specific mark in mind, one official said, but did not elaborate on how far the plot advanced or share the name of the target. After arrests were made in areas of Southern California on terrorism-related charges, Farook and his partner "got spooked," one official said, and decided against going through with the attack.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.