San Diego Mosque Shooters Met Online, FBI Says; 3 Killed

SAN DIEGO — Two teenagers who killed three men at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday met online and left behind writings expressing broad hatred toward multiple religious and racial groups, the FBI has revealed. The attackers, identified as Cain Lee Clark, 17, and Caleb Liam Vazquez, 18, died by suicide after the assault, which authorities are investigating as a hate crime.

The three victims — security guard Amin Abdullah, 51, caretaker Mansour Kaziha, 78, and teacher Nadir Awad — are being hailed as heroes for their actions that prevented the attackers from reaching 140 children at the mosque’s school. According to AP News, the security guard engaged the shooters in a gunbattle, radioed for a lockdown, and forced them back outside before being fatally shot.

Attackers Radicalized Online

FBI Special Agent Mark Remily told reporters Tuesday that the two suspects met online before discovering they both lived in the San Diego area. “In terms of how the radicalization occurred, we’re still digging into that,” Remily said. He described the pair’s ideology as indiscriminate: “The pair didn’t discriminate on who they hated.”

The shooters left behind a 75-page manifesto that expressed neo-Nazi and white supremacist beliefs, according to investigators. The document included hatred toward Jewish people, Muslims, Black people, the LGBTQ+ community, women, and both political left and right. The pair referred to themselves as “Sons of Tarrant,” an apparent reference to Brenton Tarrant, the white supremacist who killed 51 people in the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand.

At least 30 firearms, ammunition, and a crossbow were seized from the perpetrators’ residences, Remily said. The weapons included a 12-gauge Mossberg 590R shotgun, a Ruger Mini-14 rifle, and a Smith & Wesson M&P9 Shield handgun. Investigators are working to determine whether the shooters had broader plans beyond the mosque attack.

A Community in Mourning

Amin Abdullah, a father of eight who had worked as a security guard at the Islamic Center for more than a decade, is credited with saving dozens of lives. According to BBC News, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said Abdullah’s actions “undoubtedly saved lives today.” Abdullah engaged the suspects in a gunbattle, radioed for a lockdown, and forced them back outside, delaying the attack long enough for children and staff to evacuate.

Imam Taha Hassane described Abdullah’s sacrifice in emotional terms. “He sacrificed his life to stop them from getting inside the classrooms,” Hassane said. The mosque called Abdullah “a courageous man who put himself on the line for the safety of others.”

Mansour Kaziha, known affectionately as “Abu Ezz,” had been the caretaker at the mosque since it opened in the 1980s. “He was everything. He was the handyman. He was the cook. He was the caretaker,” Hassane said. Nadir Awad, a teacher at the mosque’s school, died alongside Kaziha in the parking lot while drawing the attackers away from the building.

Timeline of the Attack

The attack unfolded shortly before noon on Monday after Clark’s mother called police at 9:42 a.m. to report her son missing, suicidal, and armed. The shooters first fired at a landscaper blocks away — a bullet struck his helmet but was deflected — before arriving at the Islamic Center around 11:48 a.m.

Abdullah confronted the shooters at the entrance, exchanging gunfire and forcing them back outside before being killed in the parking lot. The attackers then re-entered the mosque, searching rooms that had been emptied during the lockdown. Kaziha and Awad were fatally shot in the parking lot as they drew the attackers away from the building. Police later found the perpetrators dead in a white BMW approximately 0.3 miles from the mosque.

Broader Context of Rising Hate

The shooting comes amid rising threats and hate crimes targeting Muslim and Jewish communities across the United States. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recorded its highest annual number of complaints of bias and discrimination against Muslims in 2025 since beginning such reporting in 1996.

Imam Hassane said the mosque had grown accustomed to hostility over the years. “We are used to receiving hate mails, hate messages, people driving by and cursing and all that stuff,” he said. “But such horrible crime, we have never expected this.”

Investigation and Response

The FBI is leading the investigation as a hate crime. Investigators recovered a livestream video of the attack, a tactic used by previous mass shooters seeking notoriety. The shooters’ attire displayed the logo of the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi militant group, and a Schutzstaffel (SS) logo was found on a fuel container in their vehicle.

California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the attack, stating, “Hate has no place in California and we will not tolerate acts of terror.” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria vowed that “anyone who seeks to do harm here should understand the response will be swift.”

An online fundraiser for the three victims’ families had raised more than $2.9 million as of Tuesday. Hundreds attended a vigil at a park next to the Islamic Center, where leaders of different faiths embraced the Muslim community in a show of solidarity.

What’s Next

Investigators continue to examine the online platforms that facilitated the shooters’ meeting and radicalization. The attack has reignited national debates about domestic extremism, online radicalization of youth, and security at religious institutions. Questions remain about how the teenagers acquired their arsenal and whether law enforcement could have intervened earlier, given that Clark’s mother alerted authorities hours before the attack.