{"id":387,"date":"2026-05-28T12:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T12:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=387"},"modified":"2026-05-28T12:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T12:12:17","slug":"san-diego-mosque-gunman-dressed-as-serial-killer-and-idolized-mass-shooters-police-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=387","title":{"rendered":"San Diego mosque gunman dressed as serial killer and idolized mass shooters, police say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Court records show police were so alarmed by the behavior of one of the gunmen who killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego that more than a year before the shooting, they obtained a gun violence restraining order against the teen, as his classmates and school administrators raised concerns he was idolizing mass shooters and threatening violence.<\/p>\n

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Chula Vista police requested the gun violence restraining order against Caleb Vazquez back in January 2025. In the petition, a detective wrote that the teen had come to school dressed as the character \u201cDexter,\u201d a serial killer in the television show by that same name.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor a high school student already exhibiting concerning behaviors and comments idolizing mass shooters, this act could be interpreted as an alarming indicator of deeper psychological concerns or a potential fixation on violent or dangerous ideologies,\u201d police wrote, adding that the teen had also \u201cmade comments about wanting to experience a \u2018day of retribution\u2019\u201d and expressed fascination with mass shootings and attacks.<\/p>\n

The behavior rose to law enforcement\u2019s attention when two students reported to High Tech High Chula Vista\u2019s assistant principal that Vazquez had told one of them not to attend school the following day, making the student concerned for his safety.<\/p>\n

The assistant principal \u2014 already familiar with the teen \u2014 reported it to police, and during a welfare check at Vazquez\u2019s home, officers said his father was uncooperative with the officer\u2019s request to check the storage of firearms in the home.<\/p>\n

Police said the assistant principal told them the school had already conducted multiple threat assessments on the teen, showing screenshots of social media posts idolizing mass shooters like the perpetrators of the 2011 mass shooting in Norway and the 2019 mass shooting at a WalMart in El Paso, Texas.<\/p>\n

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His \u201capparent admiration for these figures and incidents suggests a fixation on violence and extremist ideologies, which raises concerns about his mindset, potential for radicalization, and the possibility of harm to himself or others,\u201d police wrote. \u201cThis behavior further signals a need for intervention to address these alarming tendencies before they escalate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chula Vista police said the teen was then placed in a 72-hour psychiatric hold for a mental health evaluation. A judge granted the request for a restraining order through a March hearing, in which the order was dismissed.<\/p>\n

A separate court filing shows that around the time that restraining order was filed, the gunman\u2019s father removed 26 weapons and ammunition from their home as a precaution, putting the teen in therapy and under more intense supervision.<\/p>\n

Just over a year after that restraining order was dismissed, Vazquez and another teen he met online shot and killed three people at the Islamic Center: security guard Amin Abdullah, who saved 140 children by radioing in a lockdown, the mosque\u2019s longtime caretaker Mansour Kaziha, and neighbor Nadir Awad, who ran to help when he heard the shots.<\/p>\n

The teens then fled and fired on a landscaper a few blocks away before turning the gun on themselves, leaving behind writings that the FBI said were filled with extremist views and hatred of many groups.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievably infuriating to know that they actually knew about these shooters, they knew about the threats that they posed, they knew about their mental health issues, and yet weren\u2019t able to protect the communities that were targeted by them,\u201d said Khalid Alexander, a friend of the three men killed and founder of nonprofit organization Pillars of the Community.<\/p>\n

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\u201cResponding to the violence after it happens doesn\u2019t help anybody,\u201d Alexander continued. \u201cWe need them to have a proactive approach to hate. We need to have a proactive approach to preventing the violence that, you know, not only impacts the Muslim community but threatens to impact all communities in San Diego. As long as we are not safe, who is?\u201d<\/p>\n

His sentiment was shared by mourners who gathered at the Islamic Center of San Diego to pay their respects to the victims on Tuesday afternoon, more than a week after the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody\u2019s dad didn\u2019t come home. You know, some of these kids are living with that heartbreak,\u201d said Camille Gooden, who lives in Chula Vista, but brings her daughter to attend a nearby school every day. \u201cSo just as a community member, it hurts. It breaks my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that there were a lot of missed opportunities and maybe not enough support,\u201d Gooden \u2014 a school therapist \u2014 continued. \u201cMaybe this might be a time to look at, you know, what other type of therapy or mental health supports we can put in place to support these kids that are identified as having these thoughts and are struggling with coping.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese things do happen anywhere and everywhere,\u201d said Kaseba Chibweth, of Bonita. \u201cI hope this leads to maybe more conversations about internet safety. I think there are a lot things that are going undetected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me question the preventative measures, what\u2019s in place that\u2019s also being ignored,\u201d she continued. \u201cI\u2019m sure that there\u2019s policies and procedures, and it just seems that a lot of things went to the wayside.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI really do think that it goes back to how we talk about human beings and interacting with each other,\u201d Chibweth added. \u201cI think if we can just get back to a place where we can continue to humanize the human experience and bring back community, we can see a way forward where we can all coexist together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVery important conversations need to happen,\u201d Alexander echoed. \u201cBut more importantly, people need to be ashamed to espouse any types of beliefs that will lead to the harm and violence that we saw last Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Court records show police were so alarmed by the behavior of one of the gunmen who killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego that more than a year before the shooting, they obtained a gun violence restraining order against the teen, as his classmates and school administrators raised concerns he was idolizing mass shooters and threatening violence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSan Diego mosque gunman dressed as serial killer and idolized mass shooters, police say - Trusted Moving Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=387\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"San Diego mosque gunman dressed as serial killer and idolized mass shooters, police say - 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