Gun supplier in California attack connected to shooters’ family by marriage: documents

The man who supplied guns to the couple who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, last week is connected to the shooters’ family by marriage, state documents show.

Enrique Marquez, whose home was raided over the weekend and who is being questioned by federal investigators, was married last year to Mariya Chernykh, whose sister is the wife of Raheel Farook, brother of one of the shooters, Syed Rizwan Farook.

The family connection, revealed in marriage documents seen by Reuters, adds another element to the relationship between Farook and Marquez.

Authorities have said Farook, 28, and wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, were radicalised Muslims who committed an “act of terrorism” when they massacred 14 people on December 2.

Farook, the US-born son of Pakistani immigrants, and Malik, who was born in Pakistan and spent much of her life in Saudi Arabia, died in a shootout with police several hours after the attack in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles.

Two assault-style rifles used in the attack were legally purchased by Marquez, who has been described by several of his neighbors as having been a good friend of Farook, according to the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Farook brothers lived next door to Marquez when they were growing up, though the brothers had both since moved.

Raheel Farook, the older brother and who became the brother-in-law of Marquez, served in the US Navy, joining in 2003 shortly after graduating from high school.

Federal agents raided the Marquez home in Riverside, California, on Saturday. Marquez was being interviewed on Tuesday, a law enforcement official said. He had checked himself into a Los Angeles-area psychiatric facility following the shooting.

The marriage documents show that Enrique Marquez married Mariya Chernykh on November 29, 2014. It could not be determined whether they currently live together. Witnesses to the marriage were Mariya’s sister, Tatiana Farook, and Tatiana’s husband, Raheel Farook.

Raheel Farook married Tatiana, then known as Tatiana Gigliotti, on Sept. 10, 2011, the documents show.

Two neighbors of Marquez told Reuters they never saw him with a woman.

“I saw no sign of him having a wife – it was only his mom in the house,” said Lori Aguirre, who lives across the street and said she knew Marquez because he sometimes drove her son to and from school.

“I only saw him going to work or coming home alone. It would be a big surprise if he was married,” she said.

This was echoed by another neighbor, who said he did not know Marquez. “I never saw any young woman around. Only his mom,” said the man, who declined to be named.

A third neighbor, however, said he had seen Marquez with a woman. “I don’t know if they were legally married, but I saw him with someone,” said the neighbor, who also declined to be named.