One of the two gunmen who opened fire at a San Diego mosque this week, killing three people, had previously drawn law enforcement scrutiny over his embrace of white supremacist ideology and fascination with mass shooters.
Caleb Vazquez, 18, was flagged by the FBI as a potential threat last year, according to reports. Local authorities had grown concerned enough about his views that they seized his father's firearms in a protective order a year before the attack, court documents show.
Vazquez and Cain Clark, 17, carried out the assault on the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday. Both died by self-inflicted gunshot wounds in their getaway vehicle. The third victim was a security guard who engaged the shooters and managed to prevent them from reaching roughly 140 schoolchildren inside the building.
A police officer's account in last year's protective order described Vazquez as engaged in suspicious behavior that idolized Nazis and mass shooters. The filing prompted the court to order Vazquez's father to voluntarily surrender 26 weapons, including pistols, rifles, and shotguns that were stored in the home. The father complied, placing the firearms in a storage facility out of concern for his son.
Vazquez had also been placed in an involuntary psychiatric hold, according to court records. The trigger for the legal action came after someone reported troubling social media posts by the teenager to authorities.
Investigators discovered at least 30 guns, ammunition, and a crossbow at two locations connected to the attackers after Monday's shooting. Officials have not yet confirmed whether the weapons used in the attack came from the Vazquez residence, noting that Clark also grew up with firearms.
Online materials attributed to Vazquez reviewed by The Guardian reveal an accelerationist ideology rooted in white supremacy that advocated extreme violence. Communications between the two shooters show they met online and shared hatred toward Muslims, whom they called for exterminating, as well as Jewish people, the LGBTQ+ community, Black Americans, and women.
During the attack, the security guard opened fire when the shooters attempted to force their way into the building, forcing them back outside. As gunfire continued, the guard called for a lockdown of the mosque's interior rooms. The two attackers fatally shot the guard after entering the lobby, then moved into the parking lot where they killed two men working with the mosque. Those men had deliberately drawn the shooters away from the building to shield people inside.
The Vazquez family released a statement through an attorney expressing apologies to the victims' families and denouncing the ideology and actions that led to the tragedy. They attributed their son's radicalization to his autism diagnosis and influence from online sources.
The mosque had previously reported receiving hate mail and threatening messages, its imam said this week.
Author James Rodriguez: "The system caught warning signs and moved on them, but couldn't stop what happened anyway, raising hard questions about what more could have been done."
Comments