San Diego mosque shooters met online and shared ‘broad hatred’ for religion: FBI
FBI officials said two teenage suspects,ages 17 and 18,carried out the San Diego Islamic Center attack after being influenced online. During a Tuesday news conference, the special agent in charge said investigators recovered a manifesto describing “broad hatred,” including toward Muslims and the FBI, and that the evidence is still being analyzed, including electronic devices. Authorities said the suspects met online and had in-person contact before the shooting, but they have not fully determined how the pair became radicalized.
Police identified one suspect as Cain Clark, 17, and another as Caleb Vazquez, 18. Investigators executed search warrants at three locations and found 30 guns and a crossbow from the suspects’ parents. Officials also described how a security guard, Amin Abdullah, alerted a nearby school and engaged the attackers, helping delay them long enough for evacuations, though Abdullah was killed outside the mosque. The police chief said three victims died while trying to draw the suspects away from a wider area, preventing more deaths.
The two teenagers suspected of killing three people in an attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego had a manifesto that detailed “broad hatred towards a lot of folks,” including Muslims, the FBI said during a news conference Tuesday.
Mark Remily, the special agent in charge of the FBI office in San Diego, offered more details on the gunmen, aged 17 and 18, who opened fire in the city’s largest mosque.
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“The victims who lost their lives yesterday were there to help others be part of a community that came together in peace,” Remily said. “Instead, they were confronted by teenagers who appeared to have been radicalized online to believe that they didn’t belong because of how they looked or where they worshiped.”
Remily was only able to share a few details of the investigation but confirmed investigators had recovered a manifesto that the FBI is analyzing.
“We are assessing and analyzing all the evidence again,” he said. “It’s very early. We’re still looking through electronics to give us the answers. But again, what I can say is they definitely had a broad hatred towards a lot of folks.”
Law enforcement officials also said the two suspects met online and had in-person contact before the attack. Investigators are still looking into how the pair became radicalized.
Police did not identify the suspects, but investigators were reportedly seen searching the home of Cain Clark, 17, who attended high school online and was a member of the wrestling team. A spokeswoman for the San Diego Unified School District told the Associated Press that Clark did not have a history of behavioral issues at school. Caleb Vazquez, 18, was reportedly identified as the other suspect.
According to an alleged livestream of the attack obtained by the New York Post, both gunmen fled the scene in a vehicle after moving through the mosque with guns raised. What appears to be Clark gets into the driver’s seat, reaches over, and shoots his accomplice before turning the gun on himself, the video shows.
During the press conference, police said they executed search warrants at three separate locations and found 30 guns and a crossbow, which belonged to the parents of one of the suspects.
Police said the three victims who were killed during the attack “did not die in vain,” as they were all killed trying to lure the suspects away from the greater area of the mosque.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the gunmen charged the building, unknowingly running past security guard Amin Abdullah.
Abdullah immediately radioed the nearby school, calling for a lockdown, before engaging in gunfire with the suspects.
Wahl said Abdullah’s actions “undoubtedly” delayed the suspects, allowing the school to evacuate. Abdullah was shot and killed outside the mosque.
The suspects then went back inside the building, where they encountered Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad, a church elder and neighbor, respectively.
Kaziha and Awad also engaged the suspects, drawing them toward the parking lot, where the two victims were unable to flee.
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“All three of our victims did not die in vain,” Wahl said. “Without question, there would have been many more fatalities yesterday.”
Law enforcement officials said the investigation is still ongoing as they try to uncover what led to the deadly attack Monday, as well as the gunmen’s motives.
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