San Diego gunman was 'idolizing Nazis and mass shooters,' prompting gun removal from home in 2025

Chula Vista police obtained a court order to remove firearms from Caleb Liam Vazquez’s father after concerns about Caleb’s mental health and online behavior. Fifteen months before the San Diego Islamic Center shooting, police filed a gun violence emergency protective order under a 2014 law that allows restraining orders to prevent firearm access. Court records state Caleb was placed on a 5150 hold for involuntary detention due to danger to himself or others. The officer also cited suspicious behavior and writings idolizing Nazis and mass shooters. The father refused to allow officers to confirm proper firearm storage, though he later stated the guns were locked and his son lacked access. The parents said Caleb was influenced by online hate and had undergone rehabilitation and mental health treatment.

"Chula Vista police filed a gun violence emergency protective order against his father, Marco Vazquez, with a police officer writing the teenager "was involved in suspicious behavior idolizing Nazis and mass shooters." Police had acted after being alerted to the teenager's writings on social media, using a 2014 law enacted after Elliot Rodger gunned down six people in Isla Vista, Calif. The law allows police, family and friends to get a judge to issue a gun violence restraining order to prevent an individual from getting access to firearms."

"According to the San Diego Superior Court records, the officer noted that Caleb Vazquez "was placed on a 5150 hold" - where a person is deemed a danger to themselves or others and involuntarily detained for 72 hours - and that his father, who had 12 registered guns, refused to "allow officers to confirm if firearms were stored properly." In a court declaration, Marco Vazquez acknowledged that he refused to let the officers, who were there to check on his son, into his home."

""I am well aware of the seriousness of the allegations made against my son," Vazquez wrote in his court declaration. "That is why my wife and I took the initiative to remove all firearms, ammunition and accessor"

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