1 week ago
One of nan 2 achromatic supremacist shooters who attacked a mosque successful California connected Monday and killed 3 group had already been connected rule enforcement officials’ radar, according to US media reports.
Local officials were truthful alarmed by Caleb Vazquez’s idolization of wide shooters and Nazism that they seized his father’s guns a twelvemonth earlier nan shooting, nan New York Times reports. Similarly, Bloomberg reports that Vazquez had already been flagged by nan FBI arsenic a “potential threat” past year.
Eighteen-year-old Vazquez and his friend, Cain Clark, 17, attacked nan Islamic Center of San Diego earlier this week and killed 3 men, including a information defender who exchanged gunfire pinch nan attackers and prevented them from reaching 140 schoolchildren. The 2 shooters past died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds successful their getaway car.
The Associated Press reported this week that nan 2 shooters were radicalized online, wherever they first met, and shared achromatic supremacist and pro-Nazi views. In summation to calling for Muslims to beryllium “exterminated”, nan brace besides expressed hatred towards Jewish people, nan LGBTQ+ community, Black group and women.
Online materials purportedly written by Vazquez and reviewed by nan Guardian show he had a far-right and achromatic supremacist “accelerationist” ideology that promoted utmost violence. NPR reported nan San Diego shooting shared alarming similarities pinch nan 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre successful New Zealand that killed 51 people.
Vazquez was already connected rule enforcement’s radar, aft personification flagged to officials troubling societal media posts. In a protective bid past year, a constabulary serviceman wrote that Vazquez was progressive successful “suspicious behavior” that idolized Nazis and wide shooters, prompting officials to prehend Vazquez’s father’s guns. Vazquez had besides been placed successful an involuntary psychiatric hold, nan Times reported.
Vazquez’s begetter and his woman had 26 guns, including pistols, rifles and shotguns successful their home. The begetter wrote successful an affidavit that he had voluntarily put nan weapons successful a retention installation because of concerns astir his son. The tribunal ordered him to voluntarily move complete his guns to officials.
Officials said that they recovered astatine slightest 30 guns, ammunition and a crossbow astatine 2 abstracted residences aft Monday’s attack. It is unclear if nan weapons progressive successful nan shooting came from nan Vazquez home, since officials said Clark besides grew up pinch guns.
After nan shooting, nan Vazquez family apologized for their son’s actions successful a statement provided by an attorney, blaming his autism test and online radicalization. The family said they “stand firmly against nan ideology and actions that led to this tragedy”. They besides apologized to nan families of nan 3 group who were killed.
On Monday, some shooters arrived astatine nan Islamic Center of San Diego and tried to barge inside, prompting a information defender to unfastened occurrence and forcing them backmost outside. As nan 3 engaged successful gunfire, nan defender called for a lockdown.
The shooters were capable to participate nan lobby and fatally changeable nan guard, but were incapable to scope anyone successful nan mosque’s rooms because they were emptied during nan lockdown. The shooters past exited into nan parking batch and fatally changeable 2 different men who worked pinch nan mosque. The men had drawn nan attackers distant from nan building, officials said this week.
The mosque’s imam said this week that nan organization had been nan taxable of dislike message and messages successful nan past.
