San Diego mosque shooting linked to teens, hate-fueled online network

Authorities had been warned about Caleb Vazquez’s fixation on mass shooters and Nazism in 2025, and his father surrendered dozens of firearms. But the intervention did not stop Vazquez and Cain Clark from carrying out the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, where three men, Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad, were killed.

The attack struck the mosque’s largest congregation in San Diego County, in Clairemont about 8 miles north of downtown San Diego, on the first day of Dhul Hijjah, one of the most sacred periods in the Islamic calendar. Police said Abdullah, who was armed and working security, used his radio to trigger a lockdown that likely prevented a far deadlier outcome. Officials said as many as 140 children and staff members were inside the mosque’s school, underscoring how close the gunmen came to a much larger massacre.

Investigators said the two suspects met online around hate-filled ideology, and federal agents said a 75-page document linked to them contained anti-Islamic, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ views. The material also included Nazi iconography, extreme misogyny, racist sentiments and praise for Christchurch mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant. Authorities said symbols associated with neo-Nazism and accelerationism were found on weapons and at the scene, while a video that appears to show the attack and its aftermath was also being reviewed.

Search warrants at three homes tied to the suspects recovered dozens of weapons, including pistols, rifles, shotguns, ammunition, tactical gear and a crossbow. Police said the guns were not registered to the shooters and belonged to one of their parents, and investigators were still trying to determine how the teenagers obtained them and whether any charges would be recommended. That unresolved question now sits at the center of the case: warning signs were reported, firearms were removed from one home, and still the attackers were able to arm themselves again.

The suspects later died of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a nearby vehicle. Police described the case as a possible hate crime, and the FBI said it was dedicating every resource to understanding how the plot formed and how future attacks can be prevented.