Headline Roundup • May 19th, 2026
Police Investigating San Diego Mosque Shooting as 'Hate' Crime
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Two teenagers opened fire on San Diego's largest mosque on Monday, killing five and then themselves.
'Hate Crime': Many mainstream outlets, including CNN (Lean Left bias), BBC News (Center), USA Today (Lean Left), Washington Post (Lean Left), and Fox News (Right), led by describing the shooting as a "hate crime."
Key Quotes: San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said a note left behind included "generalized hate rhetoric and hate speech." Wahl said, "There was no specific threat, especially no specific threat to the Islamic Center. It was just general hate kind of speech that I think covered a wide gamut. Again, we are still actively investigating this as we speak, but it was more generalized."
The Suspects: The suspects have been identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Velasquez. After the shooting, the two drove a few blocks away from the school and shot themselves in their car. A gas can with an "SS" sticker on it was recovered from the scene.
Others Involved: Police said among the victims was security guard Amin Abdullah who "played a pivotal role" in preventing the shooting from being "much worse." One of the suspects' moms reportedly tipped off police hours before the shooting that her son had run away from home in camouflage attire with her weapons, triggering a police search.
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Featured Coverage of this Story
Zoe Myers/AFP/Getty Images
Authorities are investigating what led a 17-year-old homeschooled wrestler and an 18-year-old to allegedly open fire on San Diego's largest mosque on Monday, killing three people in what police have called a hate crime.
The suspects were found dead in a car on a street close to the mosque with apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, according to multiple law enforcement officials.
Two teenage attackers fatally shot three men at a mosque in San Diego, California, in a suspected hate crime, before taking their own lives, say police.
The shooting took place on Monday morning, two hours after the mother of one of the suspects called police to say her son had run away with a friend and was possibly suicidal.
The concerned mom of one of the teen San Diego mosque shooters had frantically alerted cops that her suicidal son had run away in camo and with some of her weapons — sparking a huge hunt in the hours before the bloodshed unfolded.
Police spent two hours scrambling to locate the suspects — identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Velasquez — before the gunshots rang out at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday.
The mother first called cops about 9:40 a.m., warning that her son was...
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