Two teens who reportedly opened fire on the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday appear to have been radicalized online, according to authorities. Investigators are looking into an online manifesto allegedly written by the deceased teens.
NBC News reported that the 75-page manifesto espouses anti-Islamic, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ views. It said the manifesto also refers to accelerationism, described by the outlet as “a white supremacist ideology that promotes violence to speed the formation of a white ethnostate.”
Nazi iconography, extreme misogyny, racist sentiments about Black people and other minority groups and idolization of Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant (who in 2019 killed 51 people at New Zealand mosques) were included in the document, said law enforcement officials cited by NBC. Additionally, it allegedly includes views that are hostile to President Donald Trump and its authors describe themselves as anti-MAGA.
“The authors blame the Jewish community for what they say are the problems of the modern world,” said NBC News.
According to the city of San Diego, Calif., 18-year-old Caleb Liam Vazquez and 17-year-old Cain Lee Clark parked in the Islamic Center lot Monday and ran past 51-year-old Amin Abdullah, a security guard. They reportedly engaged in gunfire with the guard and killed him after he initiated lockdown protocols that deterred further access into the facility.
After going through empty areas of the facility, the suspects exited through a back door and entered a parking lot, where they encountered 78-year-old Mansour Kaziha and 57-year-old Nadir Awad. They opened fire on Kaziha and Awad and killed them.
Vazquez and Clark then reportedly fled in their vehicle and shot at a gardener in the surrounding neighborhood. That gardener was uninjured.
“Shortly thereafter, they shot and killed themselves in the vehicle. The details around what happened during this time are still unclear,” said the city of San Diego’s timeline. As of Tuesday, the San Diego Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were working together to conduct extensive interviews with the suspects’ family and friends as well as an investigation of their residences.
Authorities believe that Vazquez and Clark met online and “exchanged radicalized ideology” when they realized that they both lived in San Diego. During searches of their homes, numerous firearms were seized, including numerous pistols, rifles, shotguns, ammunition, tactical gear, and electronics.
“So far in the investigation, over 30 guns and a crossbow have been seized. Investigators are continuing to process information from all locations,” said San Diego’s timeline. Guns used in the incident at the Islamic Center were not registered to the suspects and authorities are investigating how they obtained them.
Inside the vehicle they used, investigators have reportedly found writings that “described hatred toward various religions and races.” According to Mark Remily, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office, these writings included “various ideologies outlining religious and racial beliefs of how the world they envisioned should look.”
“The victims who lost their lives yesterday were there to help others and be a part of a community that came together in peace. Instead, they were confronted by teenagers who appear to have been radicalized online to believe that they didn’t belong because of how they looked or where they worshipped,” Remily said in a Tuesday update on the investigation. “They couldn’t be more wrong,” he added.
Data from the FBI indicates that law enforcement agencies across the country reported 11,679 hate crime incidents involving 14,243 victims for the calendar year 2024 alone. More than 53% were based on race ethnicity or ancestry, while more than 23% were based on religion.
In nearby Los Angeles County, the sheriff’s office said it would reach out to faith-based partners “to encourage the prompt reporting of any suspicious activity.”
“We must stand together against Islamophobia and all forms of hate, and Congress must take meaningful action to strengthen protections for places of worship and address the epidemic of gun violence through stronger gun safety laws,” said U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.) in a statement about the tragedy.
Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson also said: “In the wake of this tragedy, we must support and uplift each other – and we also must take a stand. We condemn this hate-fueled act, which unfortunately continues a deplorable pattern of targeted violence against racial and religious groups. Amid rising reports of Islamophobia in the United States, this shooting is a chilling reminder that violence and hate are clear, present, and growing dangers that must be confronted head on.”
“The FBI takes any act of violence seriously, and we refuse to give these subjects’ a platform to try and inflict their hateful beliefs onto others,” Remily said this week of the San Diego shooting. “We will not stand idly by or give their hate any credibility.”
He also said the FBI and other law enforcement partners investigating the case are determined to uncovering anything they can about the incident. Remily said they “will not stop until we get to the bottom of why this happened,” and that they “want to learn how this happened and how we can work toward preventing it from happening again.”
“We also thank the public for their patience and ask you to continue submitting any information you may have to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI, or you can send any photos, videos, or other visual files you may have to our digital tipline at fbi.gov/islamicenterofsandiegoshooting,” he said.
NBC News’ report said that investigators were trying to authenticate the online manifesto linked to the shooters as of Tuesday.
