Two teenage gunmen killed three people and then themselves at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday in what authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime.
The suspects, found dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a vehicle near the site of the shooting, were identified as Cain Clark, 17 and Caleb Vasquez, 18, NBC News reported, citing a law enforcement source.
While investigators are still working Tuesday to determine a motive, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the suspects, per NBC News, had engaged in “generalized hate rhetoric.” He did not provide further details.
An intensive search for the teens began hours before the attack. According to The Associated Press, Wahl said the mother of one of the teens alerted police Monday morning that her son was suicidal and had run away. The mother’s vehicle and several weapons were also missing.
As police investigated the disappearance, they learned the teen was dressed in camouflage and was with an acquaintance. Authorities used automated license plate readers to track the vehicle to a local mall and alerted a school where at least one of the teens was a student, Wahl said, The Associated Press reported. The mother also told police her son left a note, but officials did not detail its contents.
Police arrived at the mosque minutes after receiving reports of the shooting. The three victims were already dead, Wahl said.
Among the victims was a security guard who officials say “played a pivotal role” in preventing the attack from being “much worse,” Wahl said. Official names of the victims have not been released, but a family friend identified the security guard as Amin Abdullah, The Associated Press reported.
Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego called the attack “extremely outrageous.” He shared that the center focuses on interfaith relations, adding that a group of non-Muslims had been at the mosque just hours before the shooting to learn more about the faith.
“People come to the Islamic center to pray, to celebrate, to learn,” Hassane said, according to NBC News.
Monday was the first day of Dhul Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic calendar and a sacred period leading into Hajj and Eid al-Adha.
The Islamic Center of San Diego announced on its website will be closed until further notice, stating the community “is heartbroken by the tragic shooting incident that occurred today on our campus.”
The shooting has drawn widespread condemnation from other faiths as well as local and national leaders, including the Jewish Federations of North America and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school,” CAIR-San Diego Executive Director Tazheen Nizam said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria shared a statement on X: “An attack on any one of our communities — on any San Diegan because of who they are, what they believe, or how they pray — is an attack on all of us."
President Donald Trump called the attack a “terrible situation.”