In a deeply disturbing attack that has intensified fears over online radicalization and hate-driven violence, two teenagers opened fire at a mosque complex in San Diego this week, killing three men who rushed to defend worshippers before taking their own lives.
Authorities say the assault targeted the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, when 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez forced their way into the complex during a busy period that included around 140 children in the center’s school facilities.
A security guard, Amin Abdullah, confronted the attackers and exchanged gunfire, triggering an emergency lockdown that police say likely prevented a far higher death toll. Abdullah was killed in the exchange, while Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad were shot after they ran toward the sound of gunfire to assist.
The attackers fled the scene but were later found dead in their vehicle from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Investigators recovered a 74-page document left behind by the suspects, written in a format and tone closely resembling extremist manifestos that have circulated online after previous mass killings. In the text, the pair referred to themselves as the “Sons of Tarrant,” invoking Brenton Tarrant, the gunman behind the 2019 attack on two mosques in Christchurch that left 51 people dead and became one of the most widely referenced acts of far-right terrorism in recent history due to its livestream and online dissemination.
