FBI reveals new details about teenagers suspected of deadly US mosque attack as 30 guns and crossbow recovered

Two teenagers suspected of carrying out a deadly attack on a mosque in California shared a "broad hatred" towards different religions and races, investigators have said.

More than 30 guns and a crossbow have been recovered from two properties as part of the investigation into an attack that left three men dead at the Islamic Centre of San Diego shortly before noon on Monday.

The teenagers suspected of carrying out the attack appear to have met and been radicalised online, and a "manifesto" about the shooting has been found, according to officials.

Mark Remily, of the FBI, told reporters that, according to writings by the suspects found by investigators, they shared a "broad hatred" toward different religions and races and engaged in "generalised hate rhetoric".

The alleged gunmen have not been officially named but have been ​identified as Caleb Vasquez, 18, and Cain Clark, 17, Reuters said, quoting Mr Remily, who revealed that Clark's mother is cooperating with authorities.

The suspects were found dead in a nearby vehicle, having taken their own lives.

Firearms used by one of the teenagers belonged to a parent, the FBI said.

Amin Abdullah, a mosque security guard who was one of those killed, shot at the attackers as they ran past him outside ‌the mosque and also activated a security ⁠lockdown, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

The suspects paused to return fire and fatally shot Mr Abdullah in the car park, Mr Wahl said.

By distracting the gunmen, the guard and the two other victims, mosque elder Mansour Kaziha, and neighbour Nadir Awad, gave others in the building time to take shelter behind locked doors, Mr Wahl said.

All three victims gave their lives to spare others from harm, he said, but singled out Mr Abdullah, saying his "heroic" actions "delayed, distracted and ultimately deterred those two individuals ‌from gaining access to the greater areas of the mosque where as many as 140 kids were within 15 feet (4.5m) of these suspects".

There was no specific threat against the centre, the city's largest mosque, which also houses the Bright Horizon Academy, but detectives are treating the attack as a hate crime.

'Courageous' guard remembered

The guard has been named by a family friend as Amin Abdullah, who had worked at the mosque for more than a decade.

Shaykh Uthman Ibn Farooq, who spoke with the victim's son, said: "He wanted to defend the innocent so he decided to become a security guard."

Mr Abdullah's family has not commented.

In a Facebook post, the mosque, which also houses a school, called him "a courageous man who put himself on the line for the safety of others, who even in his last moments did not stop protecting our community".

Those who died "were men who put themselves on the line for our masjid [mosque] and our community", the post said, adding they were "men of courage, sacrifice, and faith" whose absence "leaves a void that can never truly be filled".

It described one of the other victims as a "foundation of the centre" who was dedicated to building the community from the beginning, and the third man as someone whose "kindness, sincerity and wavering spirit touched everyone around him".

Mother reported son missing

Chief Wahl said police were already looking for the suspects at the time of the shooting after the mother of one of the teenagers reported that her son was suicidal and had run away, taking her vehicle and three guns, which missing from the family's home.

Read more:
WHO worried about 'speed' of Ebola outbreak
US central command leader questioned on Iran

Two hours later, the shooting started.

An appeal set up by the centre to support those affected by the tragedy had raised more than $557,000 (£416,000) of its $1m target by Tuesday afternoon, UK time.

US Vice President JD Vance, speaking at the White House, said that his wife, Usha, whose family lives in the city, told him she "would have known some people, or at least their parents" who used the centre.

He said "that type of violence in the United States of America is reprehensible".

Imam Taha Hassane, the mosque's director, called it "extremely outrageous to target a place of worship", while US President Donald Trump called the shooting a "terrible situation".

(c) Sky News 2026: FBI reveals new details about teenagers suspected of deadly US mosque attack as 30 guns and crossbow recovered