San Diego Islamic Center shooting suspect apparently posted video of attack: Sources

Authorities are reviewing a video posted online by a suspect in Monday’s fatal shooting at an Islamic center in San Diego that appeared to capture a live broadcast of the attack and its aftermath, sources told ABC News.

Investigators are also looking into the extent to which the attack is linked to nihilistic violent extremism, the sources said.

Authorities said three men, including a security guard, were killed in a shooting on Monday that investigators said they are now treating as a hate crime.

Police said two suspects, ages 17 and 18, were found dead in a car nearby. Several sources told ABC News that authorities are investigating two teenagers, Kane Clark and Caleb Vazquez, as suspected assailants in the shooting.

Sources said a video posted on Gore Online purportedly shows the suspect, believed to be Clark wearing camouflage and carrying a license plate, approaching the center and then opening fire.

Later in the video, the source said, the person believed to be Clark can be seen reaching into the back seat of the vehicle and shooting Vazquez before firing a second shot to end his own life.

Sonnenrad patches depicting neo-Nazi symbols, as well as patches that analysts assess may be from the radical accelerationist group, can be seen on plate armor worn by the man believed to be Clark, sources said. Additionally, sources said writing on the gun was clearly visible, including images of SS bolts and neo-Nazi insignia.

According to sources, more symbols associated with neo-Nazism and radical accelerationism were also found at the shooting scene, including a flag emblazoned with the word “Sonnenrad” and a gas can with an SS bolt on it.

Sources told ABC News that investigators are reviewing a lengthy document circulating online that consists of two hate-filled articles totaling 75 pages purportedly written by the suspected shooter.

Both articles promoted white nationalism and expressed hatred toward immigrants, minorities and others, as well as anger toward women who prefer tall men, sources said. Vazquez allegedly wrote in the article that he was an “accelerationist,” echoing nihilistic rhetoric, sources said.

It’s unclear when the articles were actually written, and sections purporting to identify “targets” were left blank, sources said.

Sources also told ABC News that social media accounts believed to be associated with Clark reflect possible ties to nihilistic violent extremist ideology.

Sources told ABC News that police in Chula Vista, California, spoke with Vazquez early last year after people who knew him expressed concerns about his interest in extremist ideology and mass-casualty attacks, although the concerns at the time had not yet reached the threshold of an arrest. A spokesperson for the Chula Vista Police Department told ABC News on Tuesday that the department “extends its deepest condolences to all those affected by this tragedy” but declined to answer questions about previous contact.

Shooting at San Diego Islamic center leaves 3 adults dead; both suspects dead: police

Mark Remilli, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego field office, said the two suspects met online and discovered they both lived in the San Diego area. They appeared to be radicalized online and harbored “widespread hatred” of various races and religions, Remilli said at a news conference on Tuesday.

“They don’t discriminate against people they hate,” Remili said.

Investigators found texts that outlined “religious and racial beliefs about what they envisioned the world to be like,” Ramili said. He said authorities were analyzing the texts to understand what led to the attack and how to prevent future attacks, as well as to investigate “how radicalization occurs.”

Authorities said it was too early to tell whether the mosque was a specific target.

“We’re still looking for answers electronically, but I can say again, they certainly have widespread hatred for a lot of people,” Remili said.

Asked whether the Islamic Center school was the intended target, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said law enforcement was still working to determine the scope of the “threat images.”

Wahl said Tuesday that police are investigating how the suspect obtained the gun in the shooting. He said the guns belonged to the parents of one of the suspects.

Remilli said that during searches of two homes associated with the suspects, authorities seized “a large amount of handguns, rifles, shotguns, ammunition, tactical gear and electronic devices.”

“So far in the investigation we have seized more than 30 guns and a crossbow,” he said.

Police said the shooting was reported shortly before noon on Monday.

Wahl said a review of the video showed a “shootout” between the suspect and the security guard, who was killed outside the mosque.

He said security personnel successfully instituted a “lockdown protocol” that allowed people in the main public areas of the mosque to take cover amid the sound of gunfire. He said there were about 140 children inside at the time.

The police chief said the suspect entered and moved from room to room but did not encounter anyone. At one point, he said, they looked out the window and one of them pointed at the window before running out a nearby door, at which point they “immediately engaged two other victims outside the parking lot.”

Killed security guard Amin Abdullah was hailed as a hero.

“There is no question that his actions delayed, distracted and ultimately prevented the two individuals from entering the larger area of ​​the mosque where as many as 140 children were within 15 feet of these suspects,” Wahl said Tuesday.

The other two victims in the shooting, identified by authorities as Mansour Qaziha and Nadir Awad, “drawed the suspect’s attention” to the parking lot from which “unfortunately, they were unable to escape,” Wahl said. They were cornered and killed by the suspects, Wahl said.

Police are investigating a potential motive but say the shooting is currently being treated as a hate crime.

“There was definitely hate speech involved,” Wahl said at a news conference on Monday.

Sources told ABC News that anti-Islamic writing was found in the teens’ car.

About two hours before the mosque shooting, San Diego police responded to a call involving a 17-year-old suspect involving a runaway teen, according to Wahl. He said the teen’s mother reported “several of her weapons” and her vehicle missing. Wahl said the mother also found a note, but the police chief did not reveal the contents of the note.

The mother told police her son was with another person and they were both “wearing camouflage,” Wahl said.

He said police were trying to track the vehicle when reports of the shooting at the mosque were made and officers were dispatched to a shopping mall and a school where one of the teenagers belonged.

The Islamic Center of San Diego calls it the largest mosque in San Diego County.

“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,” Taha Hassan, imam and director of the Islamic Center of San Diego, said of the center at a news conference.

Hassan said he was “praying and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community, other mosques and all places of worship in our beautiful city.”

Hassan added: “Targeting a place of worship is extremely shameless. Our Islamic Center is a place of worship. People come to the Islamic Center to pray, to celebrate, to learn, not just Muslims but people from all walks of life.”

“Unfortunately, the level of religious intolerance and hatred that exists in our country is unprecedented,” Hassan said.

“We strongly condemn this horrific act of violence,” Tarjean Nizam, executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this attack. No one should fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying in elementary school.”

San Diego Islamic Center security guard hailed as hero

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told ABC News, “We immediately increased patrols around places of worship, including Muslim, Jewish and other faith communities across the city. I think we’re going to keep that going for a while.”

“[I] I believe that once the investigation is completed, this security guard will save many lives, including many children, he was an absolute hero who tragically lost his life, but we are all grateful to him,” Gloria said.

“Hate has no home in San Diego. Islamophobia has no home in San Diego,” the mayor said at a news conference.

Meg Christie, Luke, ABC News Barr and Alex Stone contributed to this report.