A quiet Monday in San Diego turned into a devastating tragedy after a violent attack outside the Islamic Center of San Diego left three adult men from the community dead.
Keep reading to know more.
The heartbreaking shooting incident unfolded shortly before noon on May 18, at around 11:40 a.m., at the mosque-and-school compound located in the Clairemont neighborhood, and left three dead.
As the community continues mourning the loss of the victims, authorities have identified the suspected perpetrators as two local teenagers from the San Diego area.
The Islamic Center of San Diego serves as both a mosque and an educational campus. Alongside the main place of worship, the property is also home to Al Rashid School, a private Islamic elementary and middle school.
According to officials, the two teens allegedly carried out the attack outside the mosque complex, killing three men connected to the center.
Among the victims were mosque security guard Amin Abdullah and teacher Mohamed Nader.
Abdullah, a father of eight, reportedly lost his life while trying to stop the suspects from entering the school building. Authorities say his actions likely helped protect children and staff members inside the campus.
Meanwhile, Nader, who is said to have lived across the street from the mosque, reportedly ran toward the building after hearing the gunfire to check on his wife, who worked inside the school.
He was allegedly struck outside the entrance before he could make it into the building, and later died from his injuries.
Following the attack, authorities say both suspects fled the area before being discovered dead inside a vehicle several blocks away. According to San Diego Police Department officers, the teens appeared to have suffered self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Investigators are now reportedly treating the case as a possible hate crime.
According to the New York Post, authorities allegedly recovered anti-Islamic writings, “hate speech” written on one of the weapons used in the attack, and a note referencing racial pride from inside the suspects’ vehicle.
Despite those findings, officials have not yet publicly confirmed a motive as the investigation remains ongoing.
The suspects have since been identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez, both San Diego residents.
While little information about Vazquez has been publicly released so far, Clark was reportedly enrolled as a virtual student through the San Diego Unified School District’s iHigh Virtual Academy and also competed in wrestling at James Madison High School.
Reports state that Clark was a member of the wrestling team from 2024 to 2025 and won first place at a tournament in January 2024.
Authorities also revealed that Clark’s mother had contacted police roughly two hours before the attack to report him as a runaway juvenile.
During the call, she allegedly told officers she feared her son might harm himself and reported that he had taken her vehicle along with three of her firearms.
Because of that report, police were already searching the area for the vehicle and were able to respond within four minutes of the first emergency calls from the mosque.
School officials later confirmed that Clark reportedly had no major disciplinary history aside from one minor elementary school incident in 2015. According to reports, he had been expected to graduate later this month.
Clark’s grandfather later told reporters, “We’re very sorry for what happened. We know as much as you do. It’s a shock.”
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl confirmed that the emergency call from Clark’s mother came in at approximately 9:42 a.m., just hours before the tragedy.
Community leaders and local officials have since spoken out following the attack. “I hope this is a wake-up call, a painful, tragic wake-up call that reminds us hate is never acceptable…” said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Greater L.A. chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
During a press conference after the incident, Islamic Center of San Diego director and imam Taha Hassane said, “My community is mourning. The religious intolerance and the hate that unfortunately exists in our nation is unprecedented.”
He continued, “All of us are responsible for spreading the culture of tolerance, the culture of love. It’s a house of worship. It’s not a battlefield. We never ask them whether they are Muslim or not, because everyone is welcome.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria also condemned the violence during the same press conference.
“No one in our city should live in fear because of their identity, their faith or their place of learning,” Gloria said.
“Hate has no home in San Diego. Islamophobia has no home in San Diego. We will not stand for it.”
In a statement released after the attack, the Islamic Center described the day as “an extremely painful and traumatic day” for students, staff, and members of the congregation.
Officials also confirmed that all evacuated students were safely reunited with their families. Both the mosque and the school inside the compound will remain closed until further notice as the investigation continues.
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