Enrique Marquez, friend and former neighbor of the couple responsible for the San Bernardino massacre, will be charged in connection with the attack, sources say.
Marquez, a Muslim convert, reportedly told law enforcement officials that he purchased guns for Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik because he did not believe his friend could pass a required background check,
The New York Times reported.
Specifically, Marquez bought two rifles three years ago that were used in the attack,
NBC News reported.
Marquez, 24, also reportedly told investigators that he and Farook had previously planned a terrorist attack, but called it off when they heard about the arrests of others who were plotting to kill Americans.
Friends of Marquez said he worked as a security guard at Walmart, and did odd jobs at a bar in Riverside, California. He drank alcohol, which is forbidden in Islam, and reportedly talked about terrorist "sleeper cells," but no one apparently took his stories seriously. He is married to a Russian woman, the sister of Farook's brother's wife. Some have described it as a sham marriage arranged so she could gain entry to the U.S.
Shortly after the attack, Marquez appears to have written a related, albeit cryptic, message on Facebook.
"I’m. Very sorry guys. It was a pleasure," the message read.
The Dec. 2 attack that killed 14 and injured 21 was carried out by Syed Rizwan Farook, an American citizen of Pakistani decent, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, who was born in Pakistan, spent time in Saudi Arabia, and entered the U.S. on a fiancée visa in 2014.
Farook and Malik used rifles and semiautomatic pistols to carry out their attack, as well as a bomb that failed to detonate.
"Hours later, they were killed in a shootout with the police. They fired as many as 150 shots that day, and in their home and in the sport utility vehicle they were driving, the police found another rifle, thousands of rounds of ammunitions, a dozen pipe bombs, and equipment for making more bombs," the Times reported.
Investigators say that Malik pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, the day of the attack.
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