Caleb Liam Vazquez and Cain Lee Clark: The 2026 Islamic Center of San Diego Mass Shooting
Overview of the Attack
On May 18, 2026, 18-year-old Caleb Liam Vazquez and 17-year-old Cain Lee Clark carried out a deadly, apparently premeditated attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego, California. The Islamic Center was not only a mosque but also a community gathering place and the location of a school. Approximately 140 children were inside the complex when the gunmen arrived.
Authorities said Vazquez and Clark had met through the internet and developed a relationship around shared extremist beliefs. Investigators found writings attributed to the teenagers that expressed white-supremacist, neo-Nazi and anti-Muslim views, along with hostility toward several other racial, religious and social groups. The FBI concluded that the pair appeared to have been radicalized through online communities where mass violence and extremist ideologies were praised.
The two teenagers arrived at the Islamic Center armed with multiple firearms and wearing tactical clothing. Police said the weapons used or carried during the attack included rifles, a handgun and a shotgun. Some of the guns were reportedly taken from homes connected to the teenagers. The attackers also recorded portions of their actions, although no video is included here.
The Shooting at the Islamic Center
The assault began at approximately 11:43 a.m. on May 18. Vazquez and Clark approached the Islamic Center and entered or attempted to enter its lobby while the school was in session. Their apparent objective was to move farther into the building, where children, teachers, staff members and worshippers had gathered.
Amin Abdullah, the mosque’s 51-year-old security guard, quickly recognized the danger and confronted the armed teenagers. Abdullah had worked at the Islamic Center for approximately a decade and was responsible for protecting the people who used the complex. He exchanged gunfire with the attackers and used his radio to order an immediate lockdown.
Abdullah’s warning allowed teachers and staff members to secure classrooms and move children away from the danger. Although Abdullah was wounded, he continued firing and forced the gunmen back outside. Vazquez and Clark then fatally shot him in the parking lot. Authorities later stated that his resistance delayed the attackers and prevented them from reaching the children.
The gunmen returned to the building and searched rooms that had already been cleared or locked down. They eventually moved back outside, where they encountered two additional members of the Islamic Center community, Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad.
Kaziha, a 78-year-old founding member and longtime caretaker of the center, managed to call 911 as the attack unfolded. He and Awad attempted to intervene or draw the gunmen away from the occupied portions of the complex. Both men were shot and killed outside the mosque.
Victims of the May 18, 2026 Attack
- Amin Abdullah, 51 — Killed on May 18, 2026, at the Islamic Center of San Diego in San Diego, California. Abdullah was the center’s longtime security guard and a father of eight. He confronted the attackers, exchanged gunfire with them and ordered the school into lockdown before he was fatally shot in the parking lot.
- Mansour Kaziha, 78 — Killed on May 18, 2026, outside the Islamic Center of San Diego. Known within the community as Abu Ezz, Kaziha was a founding member, caretaker, handyman, cook and storekeeper who had served the center since the 1980s. He called 911 and confronted the danger before being shot.
- Nadir Awad, 57 — Killed on May 18, 2026, outside the Islamic Center of San Diego. Awad lived across the street and regularly attended the mosque. His wife worked as a teacher at the center’s school. After hearing the gunfire, he ran toward the mosque to help and was fatally shot.
Flight and Deaths of the Gunmen
After killing the three men, Vazquez and Clark fled from the Islamic Center in a vehicle. During their escape, they reportedly fired at a landscaper in a drive-by attack. The landscaper survived, and authorities did not report another death from that portion of the incident.
Police soon located the vehicle in a nearby residential area. Both teenagers were found dead inside. Investigators determined that the deaths resulted from gunshots inflicted after the mosque attack. Reports based on the recorded material indicated that Clark shot Vazquez before turning the weapon on himself. Their deaths brought the total number of fatalities connected to the incident to five, including the three victims.
Because both perpetrators died, there was no criminal trial. The investigation instead focused on determining how the teenagers planned the attack, obtained their weapons, selected the Islamic Center and became immersed in violent extremist ideology.
Warning Signs Involving Caleb Vazquez
More than a year before the shooting, Caleb Vazquez had attracted the attention of law enforcement. In January 2025, officers conducted a welfare investigation after receiving information that he was displaying disturbing behavior, including an alleged fascination with Nazis and previous mass murderers.
Authorities obtained a gun-violence restraining order that permitted the removal of firearms from his family’s residence. Court records indicated that approximately 26 guns belonging to his father had been moved from the home or placed into secure storage. Police had considered Vazquez dangerous enough to justify court intervention, and he had reportedly experienced serious behavioral or mental-health problems.
Despite those precautions, investigators said Vazquez later obtained access to weapons and continued participating in extremist online spaces. Following the 2026 shooting, more than 30 firearms and quantities of ammunition were recovered during searches of several residences connected to the teenagers.
Cain Clark’s Disappearance Before the Shooting
On the morning of May 18, Cain Clark’s mother realized that her son, a vehicle and firearms were missing. At approximately 9:42 a.m., she contacted police and reported that Clark had left home at about 6:24 a.m. with a man she believed might be named Caleb. She told authorities that the two had apparently met online.
The report included concerns about Clark’s emotional condition and possible access to weapons. Officers were still gathering information and trying to locate the teenagers when the first reports of gunfire at the Islamic Center were received later that morning.
Investigators later determined that Clark and Vazquez had formed a close connection through online extremist circles. Although people who knew Clark described him as a wrestler and a socially isolated teenager, the writings attributed to him revealed a private involvement with racist ideology and fantasies of mass violence.
Extremist Writings and Motive
Investigators recovered a lengthy document attributed to Vazquez and Clark that described their political, racial and religious hatred. The approximately 75-page writing was divided into sections associated with each attacker and included praise for earlier acts of extremist mass violence.
The teenagers expressed hostility toward Muslims, Jewish people, Black people, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community and others. They used neo-Nazi imagery and portrayed violence as a way to advance racial conflict. Their selection of the Islamic Center, combined with the contents of their writings, led authorities to investigate the murders as a targeted hate crime and an act of domestic extremist violence.
Officials said there was no evidence that the Islamic Center had received a specific, credible warning naming Vazquez or Clark before the attack. The pair appeared to have chosen the mosque because it represented the Muslim community they had come to hate through their extremist beliefs.
The Actions That Prevented a Larger Massacre
Police and mosque leaders emphasized that the number of deaths could have been far higher. Approximately 140 children were attending classes only a short distance from the lobby where the attackers entered. Teachers and staff members had only moments to react.
Amin Abdullah’s decision to confront the gunmen and announce the lockdown prevented Vazquez and Clark from entering occupied classrooms. His gunfire forced them outside and disrupted the speed of their assault. Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad then confronted or distracted the attackers in the parking lot, drawing their attention away from the children and staff members still sheltered inside.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the three victims did not die in vain. Their resistance delayed the attackers, redirected their movements and gave dozens of people the time needed to hide. No children were physically injured during the shooting.
Aftermath and Investigation
The murders devastated San Diego’s Muslim community. Vigils and memorial services were held for Abdullah, Kaziha and Awad, who were remembered not merely as victims but as protectors who knowingly moved toward danger to save others.
The FBI and San Diego Police Department examined the attackers’ electronic communications, internet histories, writings, firearms and relationships. Investigators interviewed relatives, classmates, acquaintances and members of online communities in an effort to determine whether anyone else had helped plan the attack or knew about it beforehand.
The case also raised questions about firearm storage, online radicalization and whether earlier warning signs involving Vazquez could have led to stronger intervention. Although guns had previously been removed from his immediate environment, authorities said the teenagers were still able to obtain several weapons for the attack.
No surviving accomplice was publicly identified as having participated in the murders. With both Vazquez and Clark dead, investigators concentrated on reconstructing the planning process and identifying possible failures that allowed two radicalized teenagers to carry out a heavily armed assault on a school and place of worship.
Legacy of the Victims
The attack is remembered as a deliberate act of anti-Muslim mass violence, but it is also remembered for the courage displayed by the three men who were killed. Amin Abdullah used his training and final moments to protect children. Mansour Kaziha, who had devoted decades of his life to maintaining the Islamic Center, remained at the building during the emergency and attempted to summon help. Nadir Awad ran toward the sound of gunfire because his wife and other community members were in danger.
Their actions transformed what could have become a massacre of children and teachers into a tragedy in which many lives were saved. Caleb Liam Vazquez and Cain Lee Clark killed three people on May 18, 2026, but their attempt to penetrate the occupied school was stopped by victims who placed the safety of others ahead of their own lives.
