Landlord lets media into San Bernardino shooting suspects’ home

The media was allowed Friday to enter the home of a married couple who opened fire in San Bernardino, Calif., killing 14 and wounding 21.

The home of Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik was searched thoroughly by numerous law enforcement agencies. Some materials — such as computers — were seized from the scene. As is standard after police clear a home after a search, the home was turned over to the landlord. In this case, Doyle Miller opted to open the door for media to explore.

Miller told CNN shortly after opening the door that the situation was “unbelievable” as he gave permission for media to enter and sift through the couple’s belongings.

The home was disheveled. Items were strewn about or tossed haphazardly in baskets or on top of flattened moving boxes. It is unclear if that was caused by law enforcement’s search or the way the suspects lived that way. Numerous agencies pored through the home’s contents as well.

Some photos shown in the video above were found in the home.

Multiple identification cards — driver’s licenses, health care cards and Social Security cards — were found on a bed. One woman’s name read from a driver’s license in the video has not been named in connection with Wednesday’s shooting.

Several children’s toys and books were found, along with some religious books.

The interior of the home was also damaged, though Miller said that was likely caused more by law enforcement than the suspects.

“I need to assess the damage,” he told the outlet. “It’s a lot worse than what I thought.”

The search was met with mixed reviews online, though many people on social media were aghast at what they were watching.

We're all confused that media went inside the #SanBernardino shooters' apartment, right?

— Caitlin Dineen (@CaitlinDineen) December 4, 2015

Prior to turning the property over to Miller, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said authorities found three rigged-together pipe bombs with a remote-control detonating device that apparently malfunctioned, 12 other pipe bombs, 2,000 9mm rounds, 2,500 .223-caliber rounds and hundreds of long rifle rounds in the rented home. Hundreds of tools that could be used to make improvised explosive devices were also found.

Both Farook and Malik were killed Wednesday in a shootout with police. Neither were on any sort of watch list. The Federal Bureau of Investigation declared the shooting an act of terrorism on Friday.

Also on Friday, it was reported that Malik pledged her allegiance to an Islamic State leader on social media under a different name.

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