Was local school on target of Pak-origin couple in California?

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Press Trust of India San Francisco
Last Updated : Dec 10 2015 | 2:57 PM IST
Fearing schools on the target of terrorists, the US authorities searched several educational institutions in San Bernardino in California after they found multiple photos of a local school on the cellphone of a slain Pakistani-American who along with his wife killed 14 people.
FBI found several exterior photos of Carter High School, which has 2,500 students, on Pakistani-American Syed Farook's cellphone, the San Bernardino Sun reported, citing sources.
The pictures piqued investigators' suspicions enough to prompt a search of Carter and several other area schools previously visited by Farook, a county health inspector.
"Absolutely. We are relieved," Rialto Unified School District spokesperson Syeda Jafri was quoted as saying by FoxNews.Com.
"They spoke with various staff members and did their due diligence," Jafri said, adding that Carter was cleared by authorities, though the school is keeping its security on "high alert".
An experienced public health official said that what was reportedly on Farook's cellphone was very unusual. "Our inspectors do typically take photos in the food-servicing environment, but it's very unusual for any of our inspectors to take exterior photos," Susan Klein-Rothschild said.
"You only take photos if there are violations. I asked around to our director and supervisor and both gave me the same response - and they have years and years of experience."
28-year-old Farook had worked as an environmental health services inspector for the Public Health Department for five years at the time of the attack. He had reviewed 10 schools alone in the San Bernardino City Unified School District between October and November 2015, according to the paper.
Authorities sent in bomb-detecting dogs to at least one of those schools - Arroyo Valley High School - on December 3 - a day after the attack on December 2.
"Nothing unusual was found, and the site was deemed safe," SBCUSD spokesperson Linda Bardere told the paper.
Jafri said Farook checked schools in her district twice a year and RUSD had no prior indication their inspector had an inclination toward terror.
"It's disturbing," she said. "It could have happened anywhere and it happened in San Bernardino."
Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people and wounded 21 others during a party on December 2.
Authorities have, however, indicated that location wasn't Farook's first choice and the party shooting may not have been planned to be the deadly duo's final act. They were killed later that day during an encounter with police.
"We're working very, very hard to understand, did they have other plans? Either for that day, or earlier?" FBI Director James Comey said.
Authorities haven't yet revealed if Farook's peculiar photos meant Carter High School was "a possibility."
In Pakistan, the Taliban terrorists attacked an army-run school in December last year and killed more than 150 people, mostly students, sending a shockwave across the world.
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First Published: Dec 10 2015 | 2:57 PM IST

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