San Diego Mosque Shooters ID’ed

AP Photo/Gregory Bull

Officials have identified Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, as the suspects in Monday’s shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, NBC News reported, citing senior law enforcement officials.

The suspects killed three people, including a security guard at San Diego’s largest mosque, before killing themselves, police said.

While early reports suggested the suspects had been killed by law enforcement, officials now say they appear to have died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Clark reportedly took three weapons from his mother’s home and took her car to carry out the attack.

His mother warned the San Diego police that her son, who she said was suicidal, and Vazquez had taken the weapons two hours before the deadly shooting, according to The New York Times. The police officers were allegedly still with the mother when the attack was first reported.

Investigators are looking into hate speech found at the scene.

The New York Times reported that anti-Islamic writing was found in the car alongside the suspects’ bodies, and the words “hate speech” were scrawled onto one of the firearms used in the shooting. One suspect left a suicide note as well.

This suicide note reportedly contained “writings about racial pride,” according to CNN, citing law enforcement officials.

“There was no specific threat, especially no specific threat to the Islamic Center,” Police Chief Scott Wahl said of the rhetoric being investigated in a press conference Monday. “It was just general hate kind of speech that I think covered a wide gamut. Again, we are still actively investigating this as we speak, but it was more generalized.”

Wahl credited the still unnamed security guard who was killed with helping “minimize the situation to the front area of the mosque.”

“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,” Wahl said. “Undoubtedly, he saved lives today.”

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