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Behavior of teen in mosque shooting led police to seize family guns a year before attack
Police had removed 26 guns from one suspect’s father’s home months earlier after reports of Nazi idolization and mass-shooter fixation, court records show.
- On Monday, 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez and 17-year-old Cain Clark attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing three people before dying by suicide. Police later recovered 30 weapons from three homes connected to the gunmen.
- Police had previously identified Vazquez as a threat, obtaining a January 29, 2025, court order to remove 26 guns from his father Marco Vazquez after officers documented the teen was 'involved in suspicious behavior idolizing Nazis and mass shooters.'
- Investigators believe Vazquez and Clark met online and fed off each other's 'radicalised ideology,' while documents reveal Vazquez had been placed on a 72-hour mental health hold last year due to concerns about his fixation on mass violence.
- The Vazquez family released a statement Wednesday condemning the 'hateful rhetoric, extremist content and propaganda' that 'contributed to his descent into radicalized ideologies and violent beliefs,' while acknowledging mental instability despite therapy efforts.
- Authorities are authenticating a 75-page manifesto found in the gunmen's vehicle, as the FBI continues investigating the pair's extremist ties and the motive behind the rampage.
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San Diego gunman was 'idolizing Nazis and mass shooters,' prompting gun removal from home in 2025
In January 2025, Chula Vista police conducted a check on Caleb Vazquez after being alerted to disturbing social media postings and learning there were guns in the family home.
·Los Angeles, United States
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Behaviour of teen in mosque shooting led police to seize family guns a year before attack
One of the teenagers who killed three people at a San Diego mosque this week was flagged to law enforcement last year for exhibiting alarming behaviour and idolizing Nazis, prompting police to confiscate his father’s guns, according to court records.
·Canada
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Why classmates, school officials and Chula Vista police asked a court — unsuccessfully — to keep one of the suspected mosque shooters away from his dad’s guns
A Chula Vista detective declared last year that one of the suspected mosque shooters was dangerous based on his neo-Nazi obsessions.
·San Diego County, United States
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Total News Sources88
Leaning Left28Leaning Right9Center43Last UpdatedBias Distribution54% Center
Bias Distribution
- 54% of the sources are Center
54% Center
L 35%
C 54%
11%
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