What we know so far
• The victims: Three people, including a security guard, were killed in a shooting at San Diego’s largest mosque. The guard was heroic and “saved lives,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
• The suspects: Two teens who appeared to have died from self-inflicted wounds were found in a car near the Islamic Center of San Diego. One of the suspects took three weapons from their parents’ home. A law enforcement source and police dispatch identified a 17-year-old suspect as Cain Clark.
• The investigation: Police are investigating the attack as a hate crime. Hate speech was scrawled on one of the weapons, law enforcement officials told CNN. A suicide note that contained writings about racial pride was also found, according to the officials.
Relatives and teammates of Cain Clark describe him as a “good kid”
Relatives of the 17-year-old suspect in the shooting at a San Diego mosque on Monday told CNN they were in shock, describing Cain Clark as a “good kid.”
In an interview outside their home, David and Deborah Clark, his grandparents, told CNN “we’re trying to process this,” and said they were “very sorry for what happened.”
The couple declined further comment and walked inside their house.
A former wrestling teammate, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation, told CNN that he remembered Clark as a homeschooled student who had been trying to make friends and fit in with the team.
“He seemed like he was a good kid,” said the former teammate, who only knew him from attending wrestling practices and meets together. “He didn’t seem like he would do something like that.”
The teammate said he had never heard Clark expressing Islamophobic or racially motivated sentiments or seen him do anything violent.
San Diego shooting suspect identified as high school wrestler enrolled in online schooling, officials say
One of the suspects in the shooting at a San Diego mosque on Monday was a 17-year-old high school wrestler whose family had put him in an online schooling program.
A law enforcement source and police dispatch identified him as Cain Clark.
Clark attended Kate Sessions Elementary School and San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, said James Canning, a spokesperson for San Diego Unified School District.
His family then enrolled him in an online schooling program called iHigh Virtual Academy in 2021, Canning said.
Since Madison High School was considered Clark’s neighborhood school, he was able to participate in activities and sports there, and he was a member of the school’s wrestling team from 2024 to 2025, Canning said. Clark had not participated in any school activities this year, he added.
The school’s wrestling team posted on Instagram congratulating Clark in January 2024 for taking first place at a tournament and winning an award.
Clark had been on track to graduate and had no disciplinary history except in elementary school, when he punched someone in the leg in 2015, Canning said.
Mourning community members console each other as investigators comb shooting site
Community members in the Clairemont neighborhood gathered to mourn and console each other as authorities combed through evidence in the deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, Reuters video showed Monday.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl offered his condolences to the Muslim community in a news conference the same day.
How the deadly shooting at San Diego’s largest mosque unfolded
Three people have been killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego –– an attack authorities are investigating as a hate crime. The suspects, two male teenagers, were found dead in a car nearby.
Here’s how authorities say the events unfolded:
- 9:42 a.m. Roughly two hours before the shooting was reported, police received a call from a mother who reported her son missing and that several of her weapons and her vehicle were missing from her home, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said. The mother said her son was suicidal and with another person, both dressed in camouflage, Wahl said.
- 9:42 a.m. - 11:40 a.m. Police escalate the situation into a larger threat assessment, with investigators using license plate readers to try to locate the woman’s son and his companion. Officers are also sent to Madison High School due to a possible connection to one of the suspects.
- 11:43 a.m. Police are notified of an active shooter at the Islamic Center, and officers nearby respond immediately.
- 11:47 a.m. Officers arrive on scene and find three deceased victims outside the mosque. They begin an active-shooter response and enter the mosque and an adjacent school. Going from room to room, they breach doors in search for suspects.
- Around the same time: A landscaper is shot at from a vehicle a few blocks away from the Islamic Center. A bullet appears to have deflected off the landscaper’s helmet and saved his life, the police chief said.
- Moments later: Officers find a vehicle with the two male suspects inside, both deceased. Authorities later say the suspects appeared to have died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Deadly shooting at San Diego mosque is being probed as a hate crime. Here’s the latest
After three people were killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the city’s largest mosque, law enforcement said the attack is being investigated as a hate crime.
Local and federal investigators still face a slew of unanswered questions about what led up to the attack in the Clairemont neighborhood, the city’s police chief said.
Here’s what we know so far:
- Victims not yet identified: Three adult men were killed in the shooting, and their identities will be released in the days ahead, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said. One of those killed was a security guard whose actions were described as “heroic.” Officials are still determining whether the security guard engaged the suspects, but his actions helped to “save lives today,” said Wahl. The guard was a father of eight who deeply cared about his community and sacrificed his life to protect people inside the mosque, according to his friend Sam Hamideh.
- Suspects found dead: The two male suspects, who were ages 17 and 18, were found dead in a car near the mosque from “self-inflicted gunshot wounds,” Wahl said. The vehicle was found “in the middle of the street” with the suspected shooters dead inside, Wahl said.
- Hate speech on weapon: One of the suspects in the shooting took a firearm from his parents’ home and left a suicide note that contained writings about racial pride, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the latest told CNN. Hate speech was scrawled on one of the weapons that was used in the shooting, and while the specifics of the language were not immediately clear, Wahl said it “covered a wide gamut.” He added the writings included no specific threat to the Islamic Center, saying it was “more generalized.”
- Runaway juvenile call: Police first received a call about a “runaway juvenile” Monday morning, which triggered a “larger threat assessment picture,” Wahl said. The teenager’s mother reported her son was suicidal, that three weapons were missing from the home, and her son was with a “companion” dressed in camo, he said. As San Diego police searched for two teenagers, they learned one of them was associated with Madison High School and alerted school police, Wahl said.
- Second shooting: Law enforcement received calls from a second location as they were responding to the active shooter situation at the mosque, Wahl said. A landscaper there may have been shot, with the bullet striking a helmet and saving his life, he added.
- Copious evidence: The investigation will be aided by copious evidence, including security cameras at the mosque, said Wahl. Law enforcement is carrying out search warrants to follow any leads and information to determine how the shooting unfolded and what could have been done to prevent it, Wahl said.
- FBI on scene: The FBI is on site at the mosque, including special agents, task force officers, evidence response personnel, victim specialists and others, said Mark Remily, of the FBI San Diego field office. Bomb techs have cleared the vehicle where the suspects were found dead, Remily said. Local law enforcement partners are working closely with the FBI to gather evidence, he said.
Security guard was father of 8 who "sacrificed his life" to protect others, friend says
The security guard who was one of three people killed in the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego was a father of eight children who deeply cared about his community and sacrificed his life to protect people inside the mosque, said his friend Sam Hamideh.
A school teaching kindergarten to third grade is situated inside the mosque, said Hamideh, whose middle child was in class during the shooting. Every day, the security guard would run to the car when Hamideh or his wife dropped off their child, he said. The morning of the shooting, the security guard told Hamideh’s wife, “Say hello to Sam,” he said. “I didn’t know it was his goodbye. That was crushing.”
After calling his child’s teacher, the security guard was the second call Hamideh made after learning of the shooting, he said. “I know that he knew he was sacrificing his life for the kids,” Hamideh said of his friend of four years. “Because if he didn’t take that bullet, they would easily walk up the stairs.”
Teenage suspect took three weapons from mom's home, chief says
One of the teenage suspects took three weapons from his mother’s home before investigators say he carried out an attack on the Islamic Center in San Diego, the city’s police chief said.
The 17-year-old’s mother told police her son and car were missing along with “several of her weapons” Chief Scott Wahl told reporters.
The number of weapons he took from the home lead investigators to believe the teen may be a threat to others, as well, the chief said.
“One person that’s suicidal is not going to take three weapons from a location,” Wahl said.
The concerning details triggered “a much bigger threat assessment” as they searched for the teen’s whereabouts, he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and other public officials condemn shooting
Public officials have rushed to condemn today’s fatal shooting at San Diego’s largest mosque.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he and his wife were “horrified by today’s violent attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, where families and children gather, and neighbors worship in peace and fellowship.”
“Worshippers anywhere should not have to fear for their lives,” his statement continues. “Hate has no place in California, and we will not tolerate acts of terror or intimidation against communities of faith.”
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani – who made history as the city’s first Muslim mayor – likewise said he was “horrified” by the attack.
“Islamophobia endangers Muslim communities across this country,” he said in a post on X. “We must confront it directly and stand together against the politics of fear and division.”
US Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and US Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California also condemned the shooting.
Suspect's hate speech did not specifically include threat to the mosque, police chief says
There was no specific threat to any place mentioned in the note and weapons of one of the suspects who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
Wahl also spoke about the reality that all religious facilities across the United States and around the world are aware of safety risks associated with them.
“It’s an unfortunate reality of the world we live in today. But I would say absolutely, everybody feels that insecurity,” he added.
The FBI pledges to "leave no stone unturned"
The FBI is working closely with law enforcement partners to gather evidence after a fatal shooting at San Diego’s largest mosque Monday, Mark Remily, the special agent in charge of FBI San Diego, said at a news conference.
“We are in the process of interviewing family and friends of the subjects, and evidence tech evidence response teams are gathering all the evidence from the scene for review,” Remily said. “We will process everything as quickly, but as meticulously as we can.”
He added that bomb techs have cleared the vehicle where two teenage suspects were found dead.
“We will continue to coordinate with our law enforcement partners and work closely with them for as long as it takes until we understand what happened,” Remily said. “We will leave no stone unturned.”
Authorities won’t yet release identities of 3 victims of mosque shooting, chief says
Authorities will not yet release the identities of the three people who were killed in a shooting today at San Diego’s largest mosque but will do so in the days ahead, said Police Chief Scott Wahl.
“We’ve just basically notified family of those victims. We’re not going to put out their identity right now,” Wahl said at a news conference.
“We’re trying to protect kind of what we have. There’s more work to be done, and we want to make sure that we’re preserving some of that for the moment,” he continued.
Police "actively investigating" shooting as a hate crime
Police are “actively investigating” the fatal shooting at a San Diego mosque as a hate crime, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a news conference.
“There are details and information that we are investigating as to exactly what those, what the hate speech or the hate words were that were conveyed,” he said.
“But yes, it’s being investigated as a hate crime. At this point, there was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved.”
San Diego mayor condemns Islamophobia and pledges protection for houses of worship
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria strongly condemned today’s attack and promised additional protections for houses of worship in the city that are on edge after the shooting.
The mayor said the city will be “making sure that we anticipate and try and prevent the very worst.”
“We didn’t meet that mark today, but I have deep gratitude to the security officer who was here, whose actions and heroicism undoubtedly saved lives, and I’m grateful to every law enforcement individual who ran toward this call to help bring these people to justice,” he added.
Security guard's actions were "heroic" and "saved lives," police chief says
The actions of the security guard who was killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego today helped “at least minimize the situation,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
The police chief said officials are still working on determining whether or not the security guard engaged the suspects. He was at the front area of the mosque, Wahl said.
“Until we know more, I don’t want to speculate, but at this point I think it’s fair to say his actions were heroic and undoubtedly he saved lives today,” he said.
Teen's mother found note he left, police chief says
The mother of one of the suspects in Monday’s shooting — first reported to police as a “runaway juvenile” — found a note left by the teenager, said Police Chief Scott Wahl.
“What that note looks like, what that note says, I’m not going to disclose right now,” Wahl said.
Person yells at mayor at news conference about mosque shooting
As San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria took the podium at a news conference about the shooting at the Islamic Center, someone started shouting at him from the crowd.
“Our Muslim brothers and sisters have been talking to you for how long?” the person said. “You have to f*cking listen to them, Todd.”
The person, standing behind the cameras, then turned and walked away.
The mayor did not say anything back and carried on with his remarks.
Landscaper may have been shot in the helmet, police chief says
A landscaper at the second location police responded to may have been shot in the helmet, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
Law enforcement carrying out search warrants as they continue to follow any leads and information, chief says
Law enforcement is in the process of carrying out search warrants this evening and in the coming days as they continue to follow any leads and information to determine how the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego unfolded and what could have been done to prevent it, said Police Chief Scott Wahl.
“We’re all focused on figuring out how this happened and what could we have done to prevent it,” said Wahl at a news conference.
Police notified teen suspect's high school as they searched for them
As San Diego police searched for two teenagers, they learned one of them was associated with a local high school and alerted the school’s police, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
“We alerted (the) school police department and we dispatched officers into the area of Madison High School,” Wahl said.
Madison High School is about a mile from the Islamic Center, where the shooting occurred.
San Diego police chief offers condolences to Muslim community
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl began his second news conference of the day by offering his condolences to the Muslim community after three people were killed in a shooting at the county’s largest mosque this afternoon.
“Let me start off by extending heartfelt condolences to the Muslim community (and) to the families of the three that are deceased because of the horrific actions of today,” Wahl said.
