Landon

The shooters

CALEB LIAM VAZQUEZ

Early years: Caleb was born on July 2nd 2007 in San Diego California. He grew up attending Washington Elementary School, later graduating from from High Tech High Chula Vista. Vazquez’ family had reported that he was on the autism spectrum.

Pre-Shooting: In January 2025, the Chula Vista Police Department talked to Vazquez after a friend reported him to the school for a comment that Vazquez made warning him not to come to school the next day, the school official then contacted the police. The school told police that Caleb was interested in extremist ideology and mass killers and that they had already conducted multiple threat assessments and wellness checks on him for previous behaviors. He was placed under a 5150 hold the same year. A restraining order was placed onto Vazquez in January 2025 and it was dropped in March 2025. Vazquezs parents stored 26 weapons with a licensed gun dealer and police sought an emergency court order to seize them. However the family and police agreed to drop the case in mid February and the order was dissolved. According to his parents, Caleb had been undergoing mental health treatment days before the shooting, having made repeated voluntary trips to rehabilitation treatment centers.

Vazquez also had an online presence that showed his interest in said topics. Usually going by the username flecktarn_crusader, he posted photos and videos of himself showing off memorabilia relating to extremist ideologies.

Clark and him had met online, where exactly isn’t specified but they shared the similar interests. They met up after finding out they both lived in San Diego and began to plan the attack.

CAIN LEE CLARK

Early years: Cain was born on July 10th 2008 in San Diego aswell but grew up in the Clairemont neighborhood where as Caleb grew up in the Eastlake Trails neighborhood of Chula Vista. He attended virtual classes at James Madison High School. Clarks family told the San Diego Union-Tribune that they had been living in Clairemont since 2004. Cains father was a disc jockey and the author of a five part comic series. A spokesman for the San Diego Unified School District said that Clark had been going to iHigh Virtual Academy since 2021 and was going to graduate a few weeks after the attack. He also spent his first three high-school years in James Madison High Schools wrestling team. Before graduating from iHigh Virtual Academy, neighbors spoke to KABC-TV, replying that they last saw Clark a couple of hours before the shooting.

Pre-shooting:

Cain was raised in a right wing family despite being part Indonesian. He came to identify with white nationalism after feeling vilified in an ethnic studies course. He became even more radicalized online, becoming obsessed with far-right mass killers. Like Vazquez, he also had social media accounts that expressed his political beliefs and obsession for killers.

The attack

The San Diego police department received a call from Cains mother at 9:42 am reporting him missing. She last saw him wearing camo and leaving the house with Vazquez at 6:24 am in Clarks vehicle and a firearm was missing. Based on the information, SDPD classified the incident as a runaway call. At 10:41 am, his mother called again to report that more firearms were missing and that she thought Clark took them and she found a suicide note and possibly a manifesto on his computer. Police Chief Scott Wahl said in total three weapons were missing from the residence. At 10:50 am, SDPD upgraded the call to a higher priority due to the possibility of acts of violence. They entered the vehicles license plate to their License Plate Reader system at 11:06 am and investigated in the Mission Valley area four minutes later.

at 11:42 am, police glad gotten calls about shots fired at ICSD. Amin Abdullah, a security guard at ICSD, engaged and struck one of the shooters in gunfire outside the mosque and radioed those in the mosque to enter lockdown. This brought time for the teachers and 140 students in the building to hide from the gunmen. The shooters entered the mosque after killing the security guard and moved room to room. The shooters were lured out of the building by two men who had called 911. The men were cornered by Vazquez and Clark before being shot and killed.

Authorities arrived at the center at 11:46 am, where they found 3 victims in the parking lot. At 11:48 am, Clark and Vazquez carried out a drive-by shooting at Salerno Street a few blocks away from ICSD. They targeted a landscaper and yelled before leaving. At 11:52 am, police received a call reporting the shooting. At 12:03 pm, Caleb and Cain were found deceased in the vehicle on Hattie Street, 0.3 miles away from the original location of the ICSD. Cain had shot Caleb twice in the head before turning the weapon onto himself. At 1:07 pm police had confirmed on X that the threat was neutralized.

Extra:

WPD links of the incident:

final moments: 🎼

surveillance footage synced with the livestream: 🤍

2 photos of one of the shooters holding a gun: 🎹