The US Justice Department said that a former neighbour has been charged for supplying arms to the California shooter couple on Thursday. The couple killed 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California, in early December.

Enrique Marquez, 24, a friend and former neighbour of Syed Rizwan Farook, is due to be charged on Thursday (US time). Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, shot and killed people on Dec. 2. The prosecutors also blamed Marquez for defrauding immigration authorities by pretending to be married to Farook’s relative.

The Islam convert attended a psychiatric session in Los Angeles shortly after the California shooting incident. His details indicated he had several connections with the shooter couple, which drove the US officials towards further investigation.

Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin said in a statement that Marquez was charged for providing material support to terrorists “for his role in plotting attacks on American soil in 2011 and 2012, attacks which were, fortunately, not carried out.” Carlin added that the man was also charged for violating firearms restrictions and making a “straw purchase” of weapons for Farook.

In an affidavit, Marquez told investigators that he and Farook made plans to attack California’s Riverside Community College library or cafeteria in 2011. He also confessed that both of them had plans of pipe bombing and shooting at law enforcement and emergency crews on a state highway during rush hour while they arrived at the spot.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation treated the incident as a terror attack and, hence, raided his home and interrogated him for several days before charging him. Marquez is expected to attend court proceedings in the federal court later on Thursday.

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