{"id":821951,"date":"2026-05-25T22:56:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T22:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/821951\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T22:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T22:56:21","slug":"san-diego-mosque-gunman-attended-school-dressed-up-as-notorious-killers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/821951\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego mosque gunman attended school dressed up as notorious killers"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN DIEGO, Calif. \u2014 One of the teenage gunmen responsible for the deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego went to school dressed like notorious killers responsible for mass shootings, court documents obtained by Team 10 show.<\/p>\n

Caleb Vazquez alarmed his classmates and teachers at High Tech High in Chula Vista after he started dressing up as various mass murderers, a detective with Chula Vista police wrote in a request for a gun violence restraining order last January.<\/p>\n

The teen also came to class in 2024 dressed up as Dexter, the TV character who lives a double life as a blood splatter expert and serial killer.<\/p>\n

\"Islamic<\/p>\n

Ty ONeil\/AP Photo\/<\/p>\n

Photos of the three victims at the Islamic Center of San Diego are displayed after a news conference in San Diego, Calif., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe also admitted to dressing up similarly to the recent health care CEO shooter,\u201d Det. Nicholas How wrote in a court document. The detective was referencing Luigi Mangione, who\u2019s accused of killing the late UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.<\/p>\n

The list of notorious killers the teen became obsessed with included Patrick Crusius, who murdered 23 people at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 and Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian terrorist who killed 77 people in 2011 gun and bomb attacks.<\/p>\n

Vazquez, 18, and Cain Clark, 17, are accused of shooting three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego last Monday before dying in a murder-suicide. Vazquez first landed on law enforcement’s radar after two of his friends reported concerns to High Tech High’s assistant principal.<\/p>\n

\"APTOPIX<\/p>\n

Gregory Bull\/AP Photo\/Gregory Bull<\/p>\n

Police carry weapons at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. <\/p>\n

Court documents show Chula Vista police did a welfare check last January after Vazquez, who was 17 at the time, told his friend not to attend school the next day.<\/p>\n

Claimed to be bullied by trans student<\/b><\/p>\n

When officers arrived at the home, Vazquez\u2019s father refused to let them speak to his son alone and would not allow police to verify that his firearms were secured properly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe father\u2019s lack of cooperation hindered officers\u2019 ability to fully assess and evaluate the reported concerns and ensure the safety of all parties involved,\u201d How alleged in a court document.<\/p>\n

Vazquez handled a 2024 breakup with his girlfriend poorly, according to the assistant principal, who noted that school officials conducted multiple threat assessments on the student.<\/p>\n

Talked about joining military<\/b><\/p>\n

In one incident that alarmed school leaders, Vazquez \u201cwas observed punching a tree and exhibiting irrational behavior.\u201d In another, he said he looked like someone in a concentration camp after shaving his head and pointed a banana at people like a gun.<\/p>\n

Despite the outbursts, the assistant principal told police Vazquez had never been suspended.<\/p>\n

\"Islamic<\/p>\n

Gregory Bull\/AP Photo<\/p>\n

A vehicle’s hatch and doors are opened near where a body of one of the shooters was placed near the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)<\/p>\n

The educator added that he was surprised to learn Vazquez claimed he was being bullied by a transgender student named Kai\/Vivica, noting no students by those names attended the small campus.<\/p>\n

The assistant principal also told police that Vazquez talked about wanting to join the military because he \u201cwants to experience the risk of potentially dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day after the welfare check, school resource officers and an emergency psychiatric response team met with Vazquez.<\/p>\n

Teen used the dark web<\/b><\/p>\n

He told the team he was becoming increasingly infatuated with mass shootings and World War II.<\/p>\n

\u201cRespondent made statements about idolizing Hitler and believing he had some redeeming qualities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teen told the resources officers he had been doing a lot of research on the dark web so it couldn\u2019t be traced back to him.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Austin Grabish<\/p>\n

A police K9 searches next to the Islamic Center of San Diego following the shooting that left three victims dead.<\/p>\n

Vazquez was placed on a 72-hour mental health hold, and police successfully obtained a temporary gun violence restraining order against him.<\/p>\n

After his son was served, Marco Vazquez told police that he and his wife removed more than two dozen guns, ammunition, and knives from their home and put them into storage.<\/p>\n

The father was then served with a gun violence restraining order, which Superior Court Judge Enrique Camarena dismissed two weeks later.<\/p>\n

Investigative Reporter Austin Grabish can be reached at austin.grabish@10news.com<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN DIEGO, Calif. \u2014 One of the teenage gunmen responsible for the deadly shooting at the Islamic Center…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":821952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,328870,276,61292,337893,337894,337892,3549,328372,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-821951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-america","tag-ca","tag-caleb-vazquez","tag-california","tag-chula-vista-police","tag-dressed-as-killers","tag-dressed-up-as-mass-shooters","tag-high-tech-high","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-mosque-shooting","tag-sandiego","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116637688628153160","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}