Media tours California attackers’ rental home

On Friday morning, the media made their way into the town house rented by the California attackers.

The landlord of the building where Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, in Redlands, Calif., allowed journalists into the cramped townhouse near San Bernardino, which investigators had spent nearly two days scouring.

Dozens of reporters and photographers trampling through what, the day before, had been a crime scene they were not even allowed to approach. Plywood was nailed over the openings where the police and FBI knocked out the doors and windows of the duplex townhouse, but the sheet of wood across the front entrance had been pried off to allow entry.

In an upstairs bedroom documents including driver’s licenses, credit cards and a Social Security card, all in the name of Farook’s mother, were strewn across a bed, while tabletops and other surfaces held more papers and books, including copies of the Quran.

In the small living room, furniture shared space with a treadmill, a baby bouncer, rolled-up blankets and suitcases, and in the kitchen there was a sink full of dirty dishes and a refrigerator full of food, as if the occupants were expected back at any moment.

When asked whether there was a concern about the scene, and any evidence it contained, being secure, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Los Angeles said “our search is over,” and refused to comment further.

Authorities have said that Farook and Malik, stockpiled 12 pipe bombs, tools to make more explosives and well over 4,500 rounds of ammunition at the home. The couple had a 6-month-old daughter.

The residence is in a neighboring city to San Bernardino, where the couple opened fire on a holiday party of Farook’s county co-workers Wednesday, killing 14 people.

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Media tours California attackers’ rental home."