San Diego police launched a hate crime investigation into Monday’s deadly shooting attack at a mosque in the southern California city, with the city’s police chief saying there was “definitely hate rhetoric that was involved.”
Two teenage gunmen opened fire Monday morning at the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing three men outside the mosque, one of them a security guard. Police said emergency response teams found the victims, all men, outside the sprawling complex, before later finding the shooters, aged 17 and 18, dead in a car from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
“We are actively investigating this as a hate crime,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told reporters. “There was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved.”
Wahl said that given the location of the attack, investigators were “considering this a hate crime until it’s not.”
A photograph taken by The Associated Press at the scene of the apparent suicides showed police going through the shooters’ car, as a gas can branded with the Nazi “SS” symbol sits on the ground nearby, apparently taken from the vehicle.
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Police did not specifically mention the gas can in any statement or give details on any other evidence found in the vehicle.
A Nazi “SS” branded gas can is seen on the ground near the vehicle allegedly belonging to one of the teenage shooters who opened fire outside a mosque, killing three, in San Diego, California, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
“We received a call of an active shooter at the Islamic center. Within four minutes, officers arrived on scene and observed immediately three deceased victims out in front,” Wahl said.
“We immediately began to deploy with an active shooter response into the mosque and adjacent school,” he said, adding that police had received calls about more gunfire nearby, where a landscaper had been shot at but not hit.
According to Wahl, police were already scrambling to find two teenagers before the shooting started, after a mother of one of the teenagers reported her son was suicidal and had run away.
The mother said weapons were missing from the home and her vehicle was gone, he added.
The search for the missing teen intensified as law enforcement began to gather more details. Police learned he had dressed in camouflage and was with an acquaintance.
Officers used automated license plate readers to track the car and went to a mall in the area. They also alerted a school where at least one of the teens had been a student and continued interviewing the mother, Wahl said.
People carry weapons at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, May 18, 2026, in San Diego, California. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Two hours later, the shooting began, just blocks away from the home.
Wahl said a security guard at the Islamic center was among the three victims, adding that his response had helped prevent a deadlier attack.
“His actions were heroic, and he undoubtedly saved lives today,” Wahl said.
The identities of the victims were not immediately clear.
Authorities planned to execute search warrants related to the investigation Tuesday as they piece together how and why the shooting unfolded. There was no specific threat made against the Islamic center, but authorities found evidence that the suspects engaged in “generalized hate rhetoric,” Wahl said.
One of the shooters left a suicide note that contained writings about racial pride, and hate speech was scrawled on one of the weapons, CNN quoted unnamed law enforcement officials as saying.
NBC identified the shooters as Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, citing three law enforcement officials.
People embrace near the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego, California. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
US President Donald Trump said the shooting was a “terrible situation,” and California Governor Gavin Newsom expressed horror at the attack, saying: “Worshipers anywhere should not have to fear for their lives.”
“Hate has no place in California, and we will not tolerate acts of terror or intimidation against communities of faith,” he said on X, adding, “To the San Diego Muslim community: California stands with you.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the U.S., condemned the shooting.
“No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school,” CAIR-San Diego Executive Director Tazheen Nizam said in a statement.
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