By Jana Winter, Helen Coster and Matt Silverstein
SAN DIEGO, May 19 (Reuters) – “Anti-Islamic writings” were found in a vehicle connected to the two teenage suspects in Monday’s shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego that killed three people, according to a Department of Justice official with knowledge of the investigation.
The alleged gunmen have been identified as Caleb Vasquez, 18, and Cain Clark, 17, the official told Reuters. They were found dead in their car after the shooting, apparently from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said on Monday.
Their names and the contents of the writings were previously reported by local media.
Police said on Monday that the attack was being investigated as a hate crime but declined to offer further details about a possible motive.
Clark’s mother is cooperating with authorities, the DOJ official added. Officers sprang into action on Monday after a call from one of the boy’s mothers, who described her son as suicidal and said he had run off with three of her guns and her vehicle, according to police.
Police initially raced to a local shopping mall and the boy’s school before calls came in about the shooting at the mosque.
The Islamic Center is the largest mosque in San Diego County and houses the Bright Horizon Academy. All students were safe and accounted for after Monday’s attack.
A fundraising effort organized by CAIR San Diego with the Islamic Center of San Diego has raised over $1.7 million for the family of slain security guard Amin Abdullah, who authorities have credited with preventing further bloodshed.
Police converged on Monday night on a property believed to be connected to one of the suspects and sealed off the quiet residential street on which it sat. By Tuesday morning, the police tape was gone and neighbors milled around.
The house was known for its Halloween decorations, they told Reuters, but they hadn’t known the family personally. There was a monster truck in the driveway but no one appeared to be home.
“We walk past this house every day, every morning. This is our neighborhood,” said Jessica Delapena, 54. “It’s shocking.”
Mary Ryan, 65, said she was “at a loss for words.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday that security would be beefed up across the city.
“There’s always a concern about other sick and twisted individuals who will take inspiration from this tragedy and try and replicate,” he said. “No expense will be spared in protecting the people of this city.”
(Reporting by Jana Winter in Washington, D.C. and Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Jesse Mesner-Hage and Mark Porter)
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