San Bernardino shooting: what we know about the attackers

Details are emerging about the husband and wife who committed mass murder in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday.

Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, stormed a Christmas lunch at a social services centre with semi-automatic weapons and were later killed in a gunfight with police.

The couple killed 14 people and injured 21 others on Wednesday in the worst mass shooting in the US for years.

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Farook was born in the US and had worked as an environmental health specialist for San Bernardino County for five years, according to USA Today. His colleagues were among those killed.

In an online dating profile, Farook described himself as "religious but modern" and said he liked vintage cars, reading and doing target practice with his younger sister and friends.

The pair met online and Malik, who was born in Pakistan but was living in Saudi Arabia, entered the country last year on a fiancée visa, according to the FBI.

Police discovered bomb making equipment, a large arsenal of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition in their apartment in San Bernardino.

The couple had a six month-old daughter and had dropped her off with one of their mothers, claiming that they were going to a doctor's appointment, NBC News reports.

Farook had been at the Christmas lunch, but reportedly left in a rage. A dispute at the party may have sparked the shooting, according to the Los Angeles Times. However, police Chief Jarrod Burguan said "there had to be some degree of planning that went into this".

A motive for the killings has not yet been established. Farhan Khan, Farook's brother-in-law, said he had "no idea" why the pair would do this. He added: "I cannot express how sad I am for what happened."

Salihin Kondoker, whose wife was shot during the rampage and is recovering in hospital said the assault should be categorised as terrorism.

"No matter what, any killing of any human being is an act of terrorism," he said. "We need to control our gun laws in this country."