SAN DIEGO, Calif. — As community members drop off flowers to remember the three men killed in Monday’s shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, a disturbing picture of the two teenage shooters is emerging.
“In the vehicle they used we also identified writings and various ideologies outlining religious and racial beliefs of how the world they envisioned should look,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily.
The FBI believes Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, were radicalized online and livestreamed the attack as it unfolded. Law enforcement investigators say the two teens met online and later became acquaintances after realizing they both lived in San Diego.
The FBI executed search warrants at the teens’ homes Monday night following the shooting that left three men dead. A manifesto was recovered and investigators are working to go through the teen’s electronic devices, Remily said.
“They didn’t discriminate on who they hated. It was a wide variety of races.”
Remily said over 30 weapons, including pistols, shotguns, rifles and tactical gear were found in one of the homes.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said Clark’s mother had called police around 9:30 Monday morning, concerned her son was suicidal.
A countywide alert then went out on law enforcement radio channels about possible “terrorist threats.”
'I saw people running'
In a recording, a dispatcher can be heard saying the teen had taken guns from his parents' safe and that he left a note “saying he’s too far gone and this is going to happen.”
By 11:43 a.m. San Diego police received a call about a reported active shooter at the mosque.
“I heard, like, a pop, pop, pop, it was sort of, you know, muffled. I wasn't sure exactly what I was in my vehicle, and all of a sudden, I just, I saw people running. Everyone just started to run,” said Gregory Gibson, who lives across the street from the Islamic Center.
Gibson recently moved into the area and said the mosque’s security guard, Amin Abdullah, who was killed in the shooting, was loved by everyone in the area.
Teen had neo-Nazi rhetoric on social media
“The security guard's been watching over my landlord, keeping an eye on her, and people in the neighborhood. So, it was such a great asset.”
Retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer believes the teens likely showed warning signs.
“Often when these thoughts and feelings manifest, it starts very early.”
Sources told ABC News Tuesday that early last year, Chula Vista police spoke with Vazquez after someone who knew him came forward, concerned he was interested in extremist ideology and mass-casualty attacks.
Police reviewed the teen’s social media and found neo-Nazi rhetoric but didn’t feel they had enough evidence to make an arrest.
Coffindaffer said the shooting had similarities to other high-profile killings over the past few years and noted the teenage gunmen appeared to display White supremacist symbols on their weapons during Monday’s attack.
“What a copycat, right? We initially saw it with Luigi Mangione. We also saw it with Tyler Robinson. I am telling you, this is a trend that is happening amongst teens,” she said.
