Two teenage gunmen are believed to have killed three people at a San Diego mosque Monday before they took their own lives, authorities said.
Investigators are working to determine a motive, but the San Diego police chief said the violence was being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Chief Scott Wahl said the event was “every community’s worst nightmare.”
Here’s what we know about the shootings.
The victims
Authorities responded to a report of an active shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego, described on the center’s website as the largest mosque in San Diego County, at 11:43 a.m., Wahl said.
The mosque is in San Diego’s Clairemont neighborhood, roughly 8 miles north of downtown.
Officers arrived four minutes later and found three men dead in front of the mosque, Wahl said.
One of the men was a security guard who Wahl said was “pivotal” in preventing more bloodshed.
“At this point, I think it’s fair to say his actions were heroic,” Wahl said. “Undoubtedly, he saved lives today.”
The victims were not identified Monday.
An imam from the Islamic Center said all teachers, students and other school staff members who were at the mosque were safe.
As the officers deployed what Wahl described as an active shooter response at the mosque and at an adjacent school, more gunfire was reported blocks away, he said.
A landscaper who was working in the area was shot at but not struck, Wahl said.
Where were the suspects found?
Less than a quarter-mile from the landscaper, police found a vehicle in the middle of the street with the two teenagers believed to be the shooters inside, Wahl said.
Both are believed to have died by self-inflicted gunshot wounds, he said.
Two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation and a federal law enforcement official identified the suspects as Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18.
Clark attended high school virtually, but was set to graduate later this month, according to a school district official.
The mother of one of the suspects called police Monday morning and said her son, her firearms and her car were missing, Wahl said.
She described the teen as suicidal and said he was most likely with a friend, Wahl said. Both were “dressed in camo,” he recalled her saying.
Officers were talking with the woman and trying to piece together where her son might be when they learned what was happening at the Islamic center, Wahl said.
They “immediately dispatched themselves to the mosque,” he said.
What we know about a possible motive
The mother told police that her son left a note, Wahl said. He declined to provide additional details about it.
Wahl said “hate rhetoric” was involved in the shooting, which he said is being investigated as a hate crime. Investigators are examining possible anti-Islamic writings found in the teens’ car, two senior law enforcement officials said.
An imam with the mosque, Taha Hassane, said the center had never before experienced a tragedy like Monday’s shooting, and he said it is “outrageous” that someone would target a place of worship.
“People come to the Islamic center to pray, to celebrate, to learn,” he told reporters.
Monday was the first day of Dhul Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar and one of its most sacred periods.
In a news release, the mosque said it will remain closed until further notice.
