The brother of the San Bernardino gunman who was incorrectly identified by some media as the shooter in the immediate aftermath of the massacre is a decorated military veteran with same first name as his sibling.

Syed Raheel Farook was wrongly named as one of the two killers in the hours following last Wednesday’s mass shooting, which police say was carried out by his brother, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and sister-in-law, Tashfeen Malik, 27.

The assault on a Christmas party at a social service centre in southern California left 14 people dead and 21 injured. The FBI has taken over the investigation into the mass killing and are looking into whether it was terrorist-related.

Not only were reports of his involvement incorrect, but Syed Raheel Farook is a veteran of the United States Navy – serving for four years between 2003 and 2007 – who won several “awards and decorations,” a spokesman told BuzzFeed News.

The website reports that Mr Farook was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and a Good Conduct Medal.