Before deadly San Diego mosque shooting, mother called police with concerning warning
Two hours before the deadly attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the mother of one of the two teen suspects called authorities to report her son was missing and suicidal, and that several of her guns were missing, Police Chief Scott Wahl said Monday evening.
Mother warned police son was suicidal before deadly mosque shooting, chief says
San Diego police were investigating a runaway juvenile report involving one of the suspected shooters roughly two hours before the deadly attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, Police Chief Scott Wahl said Monday evening.
Wahl said the investigation began around 9:42 a.m. after the suspect’s mother contacted authorities and reported her son missing.
According to Wahl, the situation escalated as the mother “began to piece together bits and pieces of information” and relayed them to investigators throughout the morning, including that some weapons and a vehicle were missing.
“With this information, she believed her son was suicidal,” Wahl said during an evening news conference.
Police later connected the runaway investigation to the shooting at the Islamic Center, which unfolded shortly before noon.
Alleged mosque shooters identified as teens, aged 17 and 18
The alleged shooters who killed three men at the Islamic Center of San Diego have been identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Velasquez, the New York Post reported, citing a law enforcement source.
Clark had been on the wrestling team at Madison High School, according to the school’s social media page. A San Diego Unified School District spokesperson said Clark was attending high school virtually, according to NBC News.
“We’re very sorry for what happened,” Clark’s grandfather, 78-year-old David Clark, told the Post. “We know as much as you do. It’s a shock.”
Clark and Velazquez were found dead with apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds inside a vehicle a few blocks from the mosque.
There was no specific threat made against the Islamic center, but authorities found evidence that the suspects engaged in “generalized hate rhetoric," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said during a press conference Monday, noting that the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Former assistant FBI director weighs in on investigation into mosque shooting
A former assistant FBI director broke down what investigators may be looking into as they work to piece together a motive for the deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
Former Assistant FBI Director Chris Swecker highlighted during an appearance on “FOX & Friends” Tuesday morning how the mother of one of the teenaged shooting suspects called police about the “red flags” he had displayed, including taking several of her firearms and her car, and was wearing camouflage.
“The question in my mind is did she do it soon enough, and how was the teenager able to get his hands on those weapons,” Swecker said.
He added: “It does matter as to whether someone aided and abetted or conspired or enabled this attack.”
When asked about the 19 attacks on houses of worship in 2025, a 533% increase compared to three such attack in the year 2000, Swecker said the rise in violence and threats are “directly related to political hate speech.”
9-year-old boy recalls seeing ‘bad stuff’ during mosque attack
A nine-year-old boy recounted the moment that a deadly shooting unfolded at the Islamic Center of San Diego, where he and other children attend school.
Odai Shanah told Reuters that he heard a barrage of gunshots from outside the building before he and his classmates were ushered into a closet. They shook in fear as more than a dozen shots rang out, he said.
When the shooting finally stopped, Shanah said he heard members of a SWAT team shout from outside the classroom, “OK, open up,” before they then opened the door.
"We saw a bunch of bad stuff, people laying down and yeah, bad stuff," Shanah said, telling the outlet they saw bodies lying on the ground as the children were escorted outside.
"My legs were shaking and my hands and my head were like hurting a lot. I felt like a rock," he said.
All the students at the Islamic day school, known as the Bright Horizon Academy, were accounted for and unharmed, authorities said.
‘Heroic’ security guard killed in mosque shooting remembered as ‘courageous’
A security guard killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego was remembered for his courage after authorities said his “pivotal” actions likely saved more lives during the bloodshed.
A family friend identified the heroic guard to The Associated Press as Amin Abdullah.
“He wanted to defend the innocent so he decided to become a security guard,” said Shaykh Uthman Ibn Farooq, who spoke with Abdullah's son.
Police believe the security guard “played a pivotal role” in keeping the attack from being “much worse,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a news conference Monday.
“It’s fair to say his actions were heroic,” the chief said. “Undoubtedly he saved lives today.”
Abdullah had worked at the mosque for more than a decade, according to the friend.
The center remembered Abdullah as “a courageous man who put himself on the line of the safety of others, who even in his last moments did not stop protecting our community.”
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
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