San Diego Mosque Shooting: Teen Gunmen Live-Stream Attack and Neo-Nazi Manifesto

On May 19 2026, two teenagers entered the Islamic Center of San Diego, the region’s largest mosque, and opened fire, killing three worshippers. The assailants, identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez, streamed portions of the assault live. Footage shows the pair loading rifles and pistols, firing through the mosque’s front doors, moving inside the sanctuary, and later exiting to a vehicle. A second clip captures one gunman shooting the other in the car before turning the weapon on himself. Police recovered the vehicle and the bodies of both shooters in a nearby neighborhood.

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Investigators obtained a 75-page handwritten document that the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) believes was authored by the gunmen. The manuscript repeatedly endorses White supremacist and neo-Nazi rhetoric, cites the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, and lauds Adolf Hitler as a hero. It also expresses admiration for prior mass shooters, including the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacker, and references “incel” culture and the authors’ mental-health struggles. Hand-drawn symbols and numerical codes referencing Nazism were painted on the firearms, mirroring imagery used by other recent extremist attacks.

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FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily briefed the press that agents recovered a written “manifesto” and were analyzing its contents. A law-enforcement source confirmed the livestream video’s authenticity. ISD researchers matched the video’s interior details to the Islamic Center and verified usernames in the document that correspond to known extremist social-media accounts. The Department of Homeland Security’s October memo warned of “nihilistic violent extremist groups” increasingly seeking to livestream attacks for online notoriety.

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Federal alerts have highlighted a rise in “militant accelerationist” actors—individuals who aim to hasten societal collapse through violent acts. Cody Zoschak, senior analyst at ISD, noted strong indications that the San Diego shooters were “neo-Nazis, specifically militant accelerationists,” reflecting prolonged engagement with extremist circles. The DHS memo underscores that such actors often lack a coherent ideology beyond a desire to destroy, complicating prevention efforts.

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• Victims killed: 3

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• Perpetrators’ ages: 17 and 18

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• Length of recovered document: 75 pages

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• Symbols on firearms: multiple Nazi and white-supremacist icons

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• Video segments reviewed: two clips covering the mosque interior and the final vehicle scene

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• “There’s pretty strong indications that these folks were neo-Nazis, specifically militant accelerationists,” — Cody Zoschak, Senior Analyst, ISD

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• “manifesto” — term used by Mark Remily to describe the recovered document

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• “Great Replacement” — conspiracy theory referenced in the gunmen’s writings

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• “nihilistic violent extremists” — phrase from a Department of Homeland Security memo

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Authorities have not confirmed whether the 75-page document reviewed by ISD is identical to the “manifesto” referenced by the FBI, leaving a gap in the chain of evidence.

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Federal and local agencies will continue forensic analysis of the video and manuscript, expand monitoring of accelerationist networks, and assess potential policy measures to curb livestreamed extremist violence.

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