LF: EXCLUSIVE: The baby-faced 'nerd' accused of buying assault-style weapons for his childhood best friend who 'turned into a terrorist': Ex-neighbor checked into a mental hospital hours after California attack

Title: EXCLUSIVE: The baby-faced 'nerd' accused of buying assault-style weapons for his childhood best friend who 'turned into a terrorist': Ex-neighbor checked into a mental hospital hours after California attack
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... urs-office-party-massacre.html
Published: Dec 6, 2015
Author: Ruth Styles and Ben Ashford In San Berna
Post Date: 2015-12-06 14:15:00 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 839
Comments: 4

Smiling broadly and posing in a bicycle helmet, this is the close friend accused of purchasing the guns that were used to mow down 14 innocent people in San Bernardino last Wednesday.

Baby-faced 'nerd' Enrique Marquez, 29, checked himself into a mental health facility in Long Beach, California on Wednesday afternoon – hours after close friend Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, opened fire on revelers at a work Christmas party.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, Marquez’s Riverside home was raided by the FBI, who allegedly arrived in search of explosives.

Police have said that the two handguns used in the mass shooting were purchased by his wife and fellow fanatic Malik.

But officials said the other two firearms, which are modified 'assault-style' weapons, had been purchased by an unidentified third party, which they believe to be Marquez, according to ABC News.

Bespectacled Marquez is not thought to be a suspect in the shooting on Wednesday which killed 14 and injured 21.

Neighbors told Daily Mail Online that SWAT teams and ordinance experts, accompanied by a K-9 unit, arrived in Tomlinson Avenue at 1.30am and left two hours later.

Today, the scene on the quiet cul-de-sac was one of calm as locals attempted to make sense of what they had seen.

Marquez, who has not been seen since Wednesday morning, was, like his friend Farook, described as ‘quiet’ and ‘very shy’ by Lorena Agurre who lives across the street from the home that he shares with his parents and two brothers.

‘He’s very shy but he would wave to me,’ she said. ‘He would smile but I would have to initiate conversation. He didn’t make small talk.’

He and Farook became a familiar sight on Tomlinson Avenue and, according to Agurre, bonded over their mutual love of cars.

‘He [Marquez] didn’t socialize much with the kids nearby. The only person I ever saw him with was Syed but I never spoke to them when they were together.

'Syed was obsessive about cars,' she continued. 'He would be there tinkering with cars all the time and sometimes Enrique would be with him.'

Another neighbor told NBC that the two had been friends since childhood but had grown distant in recent months.

Marquez, who has no previous criminal record, was also described as a 'nerd' and a 'weirdo' by others who knew him, while locals spoken of him as someone who liked to keep himself to himself.

Younger: Alleged killer Farook, pictured here in his 2003 sophomore year at the age of 16

A former neighbor of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook is believed to have bought the 'assault-style' rifles used in Wednesday's attack

It is unknown if the damage, including the smashed garage pictured above, occurred during the raid or prior to the raid

Several windows of Marquez's home were also broken. A large black curtain and cardboard boxes were seen through one window

One of Marquez's neighbors said she saw enforcement break windows and use a torch to get in the garage

But for all that, they were left astonished when the FBI descended on quiet Tomlinson Avenue in the early hours of Saturday morning and entered the Marquez house.

'I was woken up at about 1.30am and heard police saying, "residents of 3838, come out now with your hands up",' explained a neighbor who asked not to be named.

'I saw two guys come out walking backwards with their hands on their heads. The police had them outside and asked if any explosives were inside the house.

'They said no, so then I saw the police use a saw to break into the garage and put some sort of robot thing inside.

'There were lots of FBI, lots of cops. They were there for a couple of hours - it was about 3.30am when they left, something like that.'

Daily Mail Online approached the Marquez family for comment but a woman told our reporter, 'Get off the property, I'll call the police'.

A sign posted in the front yard read: 'Please keep off the property please thankyou [sic]'.