Multiple people were killed, including an armed security guard, after two shooters entered Islamic Center in San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, and opened fire.
Photo: Sandy Huffaker/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
A California community has been left reeling after a pair of teenage gunmen opened fire at the San Diego Islamic Center Monday morning, killing three people in an attack that is currently being investigated as a hate crime. As authorities are attempting to unravel the motivations of the shooters, who were found dead on the scene with self-inflicted gunshot wounds, additional information is emerging about the teenagers.
During a Monday press briefing, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl confirmed that the two presumed suspects were found dead in a BMW vehicle in the middle of a nearby street. Law enforcement sources tell NBC News that the pair had been identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez. According to the Los Angeles Times, Clark formerly wrestled at nearby Madison High School, but had been attending a virtual school since the pandemic and was set to graduate this semester.
CNN reports that one of the suspects left a suicide note at their family home, with-law enforcement sources telling the outlet that the document contained “writings about racial pride,” but law enforcement provided no additional details on the contents. Additionally, one of the weapons retrieved at the crime scene reportedly had the phrase “hate speech” written on it. NBC News reported Tuesday that law enforcement is trying to authenticate a lengthy document potentially left behind by the suspects, saying that it contains hateful speech, including anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic sentiments.
Per the New York Post, anti-Islamic writings were found in the suspects’ vehicle and images from the scene show a gas can with the insignia of the SS or the Schutzstaffel, the Nazis’ paramilitary organization.
Wahl said that police received a phone call at approximately 9:42 a.m. from a mother calling about her son who she believed had run away and is now presumed to be one of the deceased shooters. The police chief said the conversation with the mother “began to trigger a larger threat-assessment picture.”
“She believed her son was suicidal and she began to share information that several of her weapons were missing. Her vehicle was missing in addition to her son,” Wahl said. “She also said her son was with a companion and that they were dressed in camo and that is not consistent with what we would typically see from someone that was suicidal.”
The mother’s call prompted authorities to use license plate readers in an attempt to track the car and dispatched officers to a nearby mall as they searched for the teens. Those actions were in progress when the department received a call about an active shooter at the mosque about two hours later at 11:43 a.m.
When officers first arrived on scene, they discovered the three victims outside of the center, all adult men. One of the deceased was a security guard later identified as Amin Abdullah whom authorities have said took actions during the incident that likely saved the lives of numerous others including the many children in the center at the time of the shooting. “I think it’s fair to say his actions were heroic and undoubtedly saved lives today,” Wahl said.
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