Behavior of teen in mosque shooting led police to seize family guns a year before attack

Officers conducting a welfare check at Caleb Vazquez’s home reported suspicious behavior involving idolizing Nazis and mass shooters. Court records state police obtained a Jan. 29, 2025 order to remove 26 guns under a 2014 California law for confiscating firearms from people considered dangerous. Vazquez’s father initially denied police entry when officers requested to see how weapons were stored, but the family later removed the guns and placed them in secure storage days earlier. Authorities said Vazquez and Cain Clark met online and were radicalized, and police reported missing weapons from Clark’s home that prompted an hourslong search. Court filings also describe mental health struggles, including prior involuntary psychiatric hospitalization and steps to secure sharp knives and move firearms to outside storage.

"Officers who conducted a welfare check at the home of Caleb Vazquez wrote that he was "involved in suspicious behavior idolizing nazis and mass shooters," and obtained a court order on Jan. 29, 2025, to remove 26 guns under a 2014 California law allowing the confiscation of firearms from people considered dangerous."

"Vazquez's father initially denied police entry into his home when they requested to see how he was storing his weapons. Vazquez's parents had voluntarily removed the guns from the house and placed them in a secure storage facility days earlier, according to an affidavit signed by Marco Vazquez, the father."

"Court filings show Vazquez decided to "secure all sharp knives in the home" and removed from the house the firearms that they had previously kept in a secure gun safe into an outside storage facility. The affidavit also mentions unspecified serious allegations against their son, who was also previously committed to an involuntary psychiatric hospitalization."

"Cain Clark's mother told law enforcement that weapons were missing from her home on Monday, kicking off an hourslong search for the teens before they committed the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego and then killed themselves, police said."

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