Police say San Diego mosque attack killed three, note showed hate rhetoric

The killing of three adults at the Islamic Center of San Diego has sharpened national attention on the threat facing mosques and other houses of worship, after investigators said one of two teenage suspects left behind a note containing “generalised hate rhetoric.” Police said the shooting in the Clairemont neighborhood, about 8 miles north of downtown San Diego, is being investigated as a suspected hate crime.

Authorities identified one of the suspects as 17-year-old Cain Clark, who was attending school virtually and was on track to graduate this month, according to the San Diego Unified School District. Police said the two suspects, ages 17 and 18, died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds after a heavy police response. The police chief described the shooting as “every community’s worst nightmare.”

Investigators said a security guard was among the dead and helped limit further loss of life, a detail that underscored how quickly violence can overwhelm even places that try to prepare for it. The Islamic Center of San Diego’s director and imam, Taha Hassane, said the community was mourning and urged people to choose tolerance and love instead of hate.

The attack lands amid a wider pattern of anti-Muslim and mosque-targeted incidents in California and across the United States, including vandalism, arson and hate-crime investigations. That broader record has made officials and community leaders wary of warning signs that can precede violence, from extremist messaging to direct threats against religious institutions. In this case, investigators said the note and other evidence pointed to a motive rooted in hate, and a federal hate-crime investigation was being considered as the inquiry moved forward.