{"id":962,"date":"2026-05-20T02:32:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T09:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/20\/teens-suspected-in-mosque-shooting-met-online-where-they-were-radicalized-fbi-says\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T02:32:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T09:32:46","slug":"teens-suspected-in-mosque-shooting-met-online-where-they-were-radicalized-fbi-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/20\/teens-suspected-in-mosque-shooting-met-online-where-they-were-radicalized-fbi-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Teens suspected in mosque shooting met online, where they were radicalized, FBI says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Investigators believe that two teens who killed three people at San Diego\u2019s largest mosque before fatally shooting themselves met online, where they were radicalized by hate, authorities said Tuesday.<\/p>

Read more San Diego\u2019s General Dynamics-NASSCO awarded $856 million to build Navy fuel ship<\/a><\/p>\n

A manifesto had been recovered, and Monday\u2019s attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego is being investigated as a hate crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t discriminate on who they hated,\u201d Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily from the FBI\u2019s San Diego office told reporters at a news conference. \u201cIt covered a wide aspect of races and religions, more than just the Islamic people in that church.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shooters have been identified as Cain Lee Clark, 17, and Caleb Liam Vazquez, 18. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said that, after meeting each other online, the teens came to realize they both lived in the San Diego area. \u201cBut in terms of how the radicalization occurred, we\u2019re still digging into all that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Inside the SUV the teens used during Monday\u2019s attack, Remily said, investigators identified \u201cwritings and various ideologies outlining religious and racial beliefs of how the world they envision should look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities did not offer more details on any of the writings they found. Manifestos that purport to be authored by the suspects are circulating online and have been reviewed by extremism experts and by The San Diego Union-Tribune.<\/p>\n

The manifestos \u2014 together consist of 75 pages rife with slurs and neo-Nazi symbols \u2014 call for the massacre of a cross-section of religious and ethnic groups and others. The works also cite neo-Nazi or White supremacist ideology.<\/p>\n

In the manifestos, the authors call themselves followers of the White supremacist who shot and killed 51 people and injured scores of others at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. That gunman was also cited by the shooter in the San Diego area\u2019s deadly Chabad of Poway synagogue shooting later that year.<\/p>

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Remily said 30 guns and a crossbow, belonging to the parents of one of the teens, were recovered as part of their investigation. Authorities searched three homes associated with the teens and seized \u201cnumerous\u201d firearms \u2014 pistols, rifles, shotguns \u2014 from two locations. They also recovered ammunition, tactical gear and electronics.<\/p>\n

Asked to verify online video footage of the teens apparently livestreaming the incident, Wahl said he was \u201caware of that information\u201d and that investigators were still going through electronics.<\/p>\n

Gun battle at mosque<\/h4>\n

Two hours before the attack Monday, the mother of the younger suspect, Clark, reported to police that her son had gone missing, that he was possibly suicidal and that he\u2019d taken her vehicle and guns. He was with an 18-year-old companion, and the two were wearing camouflage, according to police.<\/p>\n

Police, sensing a larger public threat, tried to track down the teens. Then reports of a shooting came in at the Islamic Center.<\/p>

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The teens arrived at the Islamic Center of San Diego around 11:40 a.m., and a security guard in the parking lot engaged them in a gun battle, Wahl said.<\/p>\n

Security video shows the guard reach for his radio to call for a lockdown of the mosque, which alerted people inside, including students and staff at the center\u2019s school, to danger and helped them get to safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis actions without a doubt delayed, distracted, and ultimately deterred these two individuals from gaining access to the greater areas of the mosque where as many as 140 kids were within 15 feet,\u201d Wahl said.<\/p>\n

The gun battle continued, and the guard was fatally shot. The gunmen entered the mosque and started moving room to room, but found no one.<\/p>\n

The chief said video shows one of the teens pointing to a window, then both headed outside to the parking lot, where they cornered and fatally shot two other members of the mosque.<\/p>\n

The pair immediately ran to their vehicle and headed out as police approached. \u201cThe massive response that was just seconds away undoubtedly pushed both of the suspects to run back to their vehicle and flee,\u201d Wahl said.<\/p>\n