Lynch says no indication California shooting couple were part of wider cell

[December 09, 2015]  LONDON (Reuters) - The United States has no indication that a couple who killed 14 people in California were part of a wider cell or that they planned more attacks, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in London, Lynch said the radicalization of the couple seemed to have been going on for some time.

"At this point in time we do not have an indication that these two people were part of a larger cell or group," she said.

"We do not have an indication that they were planning specific things beyond this attack although that information is still evolving," she added.

Tashfeen Malik, 29, and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, stormed a gathering of his work colleagues in San Bernardino, California, last Wednesday, opening fire with assault-style rifles.

They were killed a few hours later in a shootout with police.

"We are trying to learn everything we can about both of these individuals, as individuals and as a couple, to determine why they chose that location, that event, that particular place to vent their rage," Lynch said.

"We are essentially digging into their lives as far back as we can," she added. "Our view is that the radicalization had been going on for some time, but it's really too early to tell at this point what was the genesis of it for either of them."

(Reporting by Michael Holden, writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Stephen Addison)

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