CBS News Crime reported that the San Diego County DA’s Office is seeking to identify anyone who may have criminal liability in the killings at the Islamic Center of San Diego. The office said it was aware of the North Carolina prosecution connected to the San Diego murders and credited Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill and his office for their work. Authorities said Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, entered the mosque on May 18 and were forced outside by a security guard who exchanged gunfire with them while starting a lockdown. The lockdown helped shield 140 children inside, but the guard, Amin Abdullah, was killed along with Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad. The two attackers later took their own lives in a nearby vehicle, police said.
A 17-year-old girl from North Carolina was arrested last week and indicted by a grand jury Monday on a murder charge based on aiding and abetting, according to Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill. Her identity was not disclosed at the news conference, which took place shortly before she was expected to start the school year. O’Neill said the girl had recorded a livestream of the attack with GoPro helmets worn by the gunmen and had distributed their white supremacist writings. He also said the attackers intended to continue their violence at a local Jewish temple and then at a predominantly African American high school in the area. Authorities had previously said the teenagers obtained 30 guns and a crossbow from Clark’s parents.
The writings, reviewed by CBS News, contained antisemitic material, promoted a violent race war and referred to accelerationism, which the source described as a destructive white supremacist ideology. The document also identified the gunman behind a 2019 attack on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, as a model for the violence. Under North Carolina law, O’Neill explained, someone who aids and abets a crime can be held responsible for that crime as though they had carried out the acts themselves. The San Diego County DA’s Office said the case includes efforts to determine whether anyone else could face criminal responsibility.