Investigators believe that two teens who killed three people at San Diego’s largest mosque before fatally shooting themselves met online, where they were radicalized by hate, authorities said Tuesday.
A manifesto had been recovered, and Monday’s attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego is being investigated as a hate crime.
“They didn’t discriminate on who they hated,” Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily from the FBI’s San Diego office told reporters at a news conference. “It covered a wide aspect of races and religions, more than just the Islamic people in that church.”
The shooters have been identified as Cain Lee Clark, 17, and Caleb Liam Vazquez, 18. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said that, after meeting each other online, the teens came to realize they both lived in the San Diego area. “But in terms of how the radicalization occurred, we’re still digging into all that,” he said.
Inside the SUV the teens used during Monday’s attack, Remily said, investigators identified “writings and various ideologies outlining religious and racial beliefs of how the world they envision should look.”
Authorities did not offer more details on any of the writings they found. Manifestos that purport to be authored by the suspects are circulating online and have been reviewed by extremism experts and by The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The manifestos — together consist of 75 pages rife with slurs and neo-Nazi symbols — call for the massacre of a cross-section of religious and ethnic groups and others. The works also cite neo-Nazi or White supremacist ideology.
In the manifestos, the authors call themselves followers of the White supremacist who shot and killed 51 people and injured scores of others at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. That gunman was also cited by the shooter in the San Diego area’s deadly Chabad of Poway synagogue shooting later that year.
Remily said 30 guns and a crossbow, belonging to the parents of one of the teens, were recovered as part of their investigation. Authorities searched three homes associated with the teens and seized “numerous” firearms — pistols, rifles, shotguns — from two locations. They also recovered ammunition, tactical gear and electronics.
Asked to verify online video footage of the teens apparently livestreaming the incident, Wahl said he was “aware of that information” and that investigators were still going through electronics.
Gun battle at mosque
Two hours before the attack Monday, the mother of the younger suspect, Clark, reported to police that her son had gone missing, that he was possibly suicidal and that he’d taken her vehicle and guns. He was with an 18-year-old companion, and the two were wearing camouflage, according to police.
Police, sensing a larger public threat, tried to track down the teens. Then reports of a shooting came in at the Islamic Center.
The teens arrived at the Islamic Center of San Diego around 11:40 a.m., and a security guard in the parking lot engaged them in a gun battle, Wahl said.
Security video shows the guard reach for his radio to call for a lockdown of the mosque, which alerted people inside, including students and staff at the center’s school, to danger and helped them get to safety.
“His actions without a doubt delayed, distracted, and ultimately deterred these two individuals from gaining access to the greater areas of the mosque where as many as 140 kids were within 15 feet,” Wahl said.
The gun battle continued, and the guard was fatally shot. The gunmen entered the mosque and started moving room to room, but found no one.
The chief said video shows one of the teens pointing to a window, then both headed outside to the parking lot, where they cornered and fatally shot two other members of the mosque.
The pair immediately ran to their vehicle and headed out as police approached. “The massive response that was just seconds away undoubtedly pushed both of the suspects to run back to their vehicle and flee,” Wahl said.
Authorities said the teens shot at a landscaper a few blocks away, then drove a few more blocks, stopped the SUV in the middle of a road and killed themselves.
As police searched the vehicle, a red plastic gas container sat on the ground behind the SUV where the teens were found, bearing the Nazi SS symbol — two lightning bolts — imagery connected to White supremacy and neo-Nazis.
One of the homes police searched was on Paradise Trail in Chula Vista. Neighbors said Vazquez’s family had lived there for years and described them as nice people. One neighbor said he occasionally saw Vazquez driving down the street.
Around noon Tuesday, a woman and a teenage boy arrived at the Paradise Trail home. Visibly emotional, the woman said she was related to one of the teens, but declined to identify herself or comment further.
As she stood outside the home, another woman — a stranger to her — approached and offered condolences. The two women hugged and cried.
Victims honored
The three slain victims were praised by public officials and community members alike for actions and heroism that local Muslim leaders said saved lives.
The men were identified Tuesday as Mansour Kaziha, Nader Awad and Amin Abdullah, who was also identified by police as Brian Climax.
Taha Hassane, the center’s imam, said all three sacrificed their lives for the good of others. He echoed Wahl in saying that if it wasn’t for Abdullah, 51, the “carnage” would have been much worse.
“If he didn’t do what he did, and he sacrificed his life, the two suspects could have easy access to every single classroom,” Hassane said. “We’re so proud of him.”
Hassane said Kaziha, 78, had been a part of the Islamic Center since it broke ground 40 years ago, and the grandfather was Hassane’s most reliable congregant.
“In the last 22 years being the imam and director of the Islamic Center of San Diego, I have never done anything without him,” Hassane said. “He is on the top of my list for people to call.”
Kaziha, the imam said, was the first to call 911 when the shooting started.
Hassane said Nader Awad, 57, lived across the street from the center, where he went every single day for prayer. His wife was a school teacher there.
Officials have not yet disclosed what types or how many weapons the teens were armed with and did not say what kind of firearm Abdullah had. Past videos of Abdullah that were shared on social media showed him wearing a tactical vest and carrying a pistol on his hip with multiple extra magazines on his belt.
Officials with the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, said the Islamic Center, founded about 40 years ago, is the largest religious gathering space for Muslims in San Diego. “It is also home to a school and as a result of this horrific attack, hundreds of children are now traumatized, along with the community at large who fear for the safety of their families,” CAIR said.
“Unfortunately, this was not the first threat against the mosque and school,” officials added. “Yesterday those threats turned deadly.”
Hassane — who had been onsite when the attack occurred — said he’d never expected such violence to happen.
“I mean, we are used to receiving hate mails, hate messages, people driving by and cursing and all that stuff. But such horrible crime, we have never expected this,” the imam said.
Community support
A heavy police presence could be seen at the Islamic Center on Tuesday, including uniformed officers, parked patrol cars and at least one officer leading a police dog to sniff around the outside of the building.
On the driveway gate to the center, a memorial of flowers grew. Jeri Newell-Davis, a pastor at United Methodist Church in Linda Vista, stopped by to drop off flowers at the gate and then went onto the grounds to talk with the imam.
“Being of faith, we are all … family,” she said. “Imam and I, and other interfaith leaders, were praying on the National Day of Prayer together for unity. That brings us together as family. We are all praying for peace.”
Adam Garman, a 22-year-old college student home for the summer, also dropped off a bouquet. Garman and his parents have lived in the area for a long time, and he was home Monday when he heard sirens go “on and on and on.”
Garman said that as he took a morning walk to grab a coffee, he would often greet the security guard.
“He was always smiling with a ‘Good morning’ and waving, and always like, ‘God bless you, have a good day, I hope God gives you what you want today,’” Garman said.
On Tuesday evening, hundreds of people from various faiths and backgrounds attended a vigil in Lindbergh Neighborhood Park near the Islamic Center.
“These attacks are meant to isolate us,” said Hussam Ayloush, CEO of CAIR California. “They are meant to make communities feel afraid, abandoned and alone.”
“But tonight we stand together,” Ayloush said. “Tonight we grieve together. Tonight we cry together… But tomorrow we rise together.”
Staff writers Alex Riggins, Kristen Taketa, Hannah Elsmore and Caleb Lunetta contributed to this report.
