An attack by two teenage gunmen at the Islamic Center of San Diego left three men dead and renewed calls for tighter security at houses of worship, as federal and local investigators said they were examining evidence that pointed to hate. Investigators said the suspects tried to storm the mosque on Monday, killing three men before the attackers died afterward.
In a briefing Tuesday, FBI Special Agent Mark Remily said the suspects met online, shared views, and realized they both lived in the San Diego area. Remily told reporters that it remained unclear how the teens became radicalized, and he described writings investigators obtained that expressed hostility toward multiple groups, including Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as toward Black people, women, and people across the political left and right.
Police identified the attackers as Caleb Liam Vazquez, 18, and Cain Lee Clark, 17. Authorities said the killings are being investigated as a hate crime, and the case focused in part on the suspects’ online and written material, which investigators described as expressing beliefs about white people being eliminated. Investigators also said one suspect wrote about mental health struggles and being rejected by women, and Remily said the teens “didn’t discriminate on who they hated.”
Investigators said police did not know at first that the teens planned an attack. Wahl said the mother of one suspect called police around 9:40 a.m. Monday and said her son was suicidal and had run away. The search for the teenager took on new urgency as police learned he was dressed in camouflage, had taken multiple weapons from the home, and was traveling with an acquaintance—facts Wahl said were not consistent with someone preparing to die by suicide.
As the attack unfolded, San Diego officials said the gunmen breached the mosque’s lobby and wounded a security guard, Amin Abdullah, before he helped initiate a lockdown. Wahl said Abdullah, 51, used his radio to start the lockdown protocol and continued firing, pushing the attackers back outside, where police said they later fatally shot him. Mosque leaders later identified Abdullah as a father of eight and said he had worked at the Islamic Center for a decade.
Police said the attackers returned to the building and searched through rooms that had been emptied during the lockdown. Wahl said at some point, two other victims who died drew the gunmen farther away from the mosque building. Police identified the other victims as Mansour Kaziha, 78, and Nadir Awad, 57, and mosque officials said Kaziha was known as Abu Ezz and served as a handyman, cook and caretaker, while Awad lived across the street and his wife teaches at the school.
The attack drew national attention as investigators worked to understand the suspects’ paths and the evidence recovered. Investigators said they recovered more than 30 firearms and ammunition as they searched homes associated with the teens. The investigation also continued to examine how the suspects met, what they discussed online, and what role their writings played in the violence.
Muslim leaders said the community’s reaction has been heavy and that many conversations inside religious leadership circles have turned toward security. Kaiser Aslam, a Muslim chaplain at the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said there was “an effort to make sure that everyone recognizes we need increased security,” adding that the response in his community has been “heavy.”
The United Nations also condemned the attack. A spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the secretary-general stressed “the urgent need to confront hatred and intolerance in all their forms” and “stands in solidarity with the Muslim community and calls for a full investigation into the attack,” through his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.