SAN DIEGO— Authorities are trying to unravel what led two teenagers to open fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing three people before taking their own lives.
Initial attention was focused on one of the shooters, a San Diego high school student whose mother reported that he was suicidal and potentially armed shortly before the shooting occurred.
The teen, 17, and a second suspect, 18, opened fire at the center Monday morning around 11:30 a.m., authorities said. They were found minutes later in a location not far from downtown, dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, according to authorities.
San Diego police are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
One of the weapons had hate speech written on it, sources told The Times, and anti-Islamic writing was found on a vehicle.
“At least one of the suspects took a firearm from his parents' house” and left a suicide note, “writing about racial pride,” sources said.
On Monday afternoon, FBI agents were searching the teen's home on Lehrer Drive, according to law enforcement sources. The house is about two miles from the Islamic Center, which is located in the Clairemont Mesa neighborhood.
The teen was enrolled in a virtual learning academy in the San Diego Unified School District and was on track to graduate from high school this semester, according to district spokesman James Canning.
He previously participated in wrestling at Madison High School, but did not participate in any on-campus activities this school year, Canning said.
“It's important for people to understand that this person wasn't there on Friday and all of a sudden on Monday this is the situation,” Canning said. “They were in their virtual classroom.”
Although authorities have not named the teen, three sources identified him as Cain Clark.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said Monday that his department received a call from the teen's mother about a “runaway juvenile.” He said the mother said weapons were missing and that her son left with a companion dressed in camouflage suits.
Police were questioning her when the first calls came in about the active shooter, she said.
Wahl did not specify the threats related to the teenagers.
“There was no specific threat, especially no specific threat to the Islamic Center. It was just kind of general hate speech that I think covered a wide range,” Wahl said. “Again, we are still actively investigating this as we speak, but it was more widespread.”
Authorities said when they arrived at the center around 11:45 a.m., they found three adults dead in front of the building. Police then received additional calls about shots fired several blocks away. A landscaper was shot but not injured in the 7100 block of Salerno Street. Minutes later, police also responded to the 3800 block of Salerno Street where, inside, officers found the two suspects dead. Little is known about the second suspect.
Clark attended an elementary and middle school in the district in person, but after the pandemic his family enrolled him in online school full-time, Canning said.
During the shooting, five of the district's schools near the Islamic Center were locked down. Superintendent of the San Diego Unified District. Fabi Bagula said in a statement Monday that “hate has no place in our community or our schools” and that “every student family and community member deserves to feel safe, valued, and able to worship and gather without fear.” The district is making counselors available to all students and families affected by the tragedy.
Authorities have not discussed a specific motive, but San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said, “Hate has no home in San Diego. Islamophobia has no home in San Diego. An attack on any of our communities — any San Diegan for who they are, what they believe, or how they pray — is an attack on all of us.”
