Teenager Gunman of San Diego Mosque Shooting Showed Alarming Risks In Behavior For Almost A Year

The deadly shootout at San Diego’s Islamic Center killed three people after two teen gunmen opened fire at the premises. While the two suspects later died by suicide following the attack, the investigation remains ongoing.

Recently, court records revealed that one of the suspects, who was 18 years old at the time of the attack, had displayed troubling behavior for nearly a year. Authorities had reportedly obtained a restraining order against him due to his conduct at school. This allegedly included idolizing mass shooters and expressing supremacist views.

18-year-old Caleb Liam Vazquez allegedly threatened school officials and classmates in 2024 after reportedly dressing as a sociopath. The teen was dressed as Dexter, a serial killer character from the television show of the same name.

Law enforcement authorities first became aware of Vazquez’s alarming behavior when two classmates reported him to the assistant principal at High Tech High Chula Vista. They said he had told them not to attend school the following day. Vazquez’s vague warning left the students concerned for their safety.

The assistant principal later reported the complaint to the police, and a welfare check was conducted at Vazquez’s home. The teen’s father reportedly refused to cooperate with the authorities seeking to check for firearms at the residence.

According to the assistant principal, there were multiple threat assessments done on Vazquez. Through his social media posts, it was discovered that the teen idolized the prime suspects of many mass shootings across Texas and Norway. He even planned on celebrating a day of retribution, as his posts expressed extremist views and violence.

Thereafter, the authorities first put Vasquez on a 72-hour mental health evaluation. In the meantime, the Chula Vista police were granted a restraining order on the teen by a judge. But the order was dismissed subsequently during a March hearing.

The court filing mentions the police report back then over the teen’s shocking behavior. They had noted “His apparent admiration for these figures and incidents suggests a fixation on violence and extremist ideologies, which raises concerns about his mindset, potential for radicalization, and the possibility of harm to himself or others. This behavior further signals a need for intervention to address these alarming tendencies before they escalate.”

Vasquez ended up committing the mass shooting at the San Diego mosque on May 18, 2026. He was joined by his accomplice, a fellow 17-year-old named Cain Lee Clark. The two reportedly met online and planned the attack.

Vazquez and Clark fatally shot a security guard and two other community members outside the mosque. They then fled the scene before firing a few rounds at a landscaper.

The duo recorded the whole incident, and could be seen regurgitating racist manifesto and communal hatred. Finally, the teenagers committed suicide and left behind writings that expressed hatred of Muslims, Jews and Black people.