Authorities also recovered a manifesto related to the attack, which may clarify what motivated the two teenagers to commit the crime.
More than 30 firearms were seized from homes in San Diego linked to the two teenagers suspected of the attack on the city’s largest mosque in the US state of California, which killed five people, authorities announced this Tuesday.
Mark Remily, special agent responsible for the Federal Criminal Investigation Agency (FBI) delegation in San Diego, stated at a press conference that searches were carried out in two residences linked to the two attackers, aged 17 and 18, and that in addition to pistols, automatic weapons and a crossbow, tactical equipment, ammunition and electronic devices were found.
Authorities also recovered a manifesto related to the attack, which may clarify what motivated the two teenagers, who killed three people on Monday in a San Diego mosque, before committing suicide.
Both met online and shared a “general hatred” toward different religions and races, Remily said, declining to specify what ideologies or opinions were expressed by the shooters.
Remily said authorities are still trying to figure out whether the shooters had broader plans.
According to Police Commander Scott Wahl, hours before the attack, police were searching for the two teenagers after the mother of one of them reported that her son was suicidal and had fled the home with weapons and his vehicle.
Two hours after the call, shooting began at the Islamic Center of San Diego, which also houses a school.
The shooting was the latest in a series of attacks on places of worship and comes amid an increase in threats and hate crimes against the Muslim and Jewish communities since the start of the war in the Middle East, which has led to increased security.
Authorities have not yet publicly identified the teenagers, but according to local media, investigators searched the home of a high school senior in San Diego, Cain Clark.
There was no specific threat against the Islamic center, San Diego’s largest mosque, but authorities found the suspects engaged in “pervasive hateful rhetoric,” Wahl said.
Among the dead was a security guard who authorities said prevented the attackers from entering the mosque.
Imam Taha Hassane identified the victims as Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad. Kaziha, known as Abu Ezz, “was everything” to the Islamic Center, from “cook” to “janitor,” Hassane said.
Abdullah had worked at the mosque for more than a decade and “wanted to defend the innocent, so he decided to become a security guard,” said Sheikh Uthman Ibn Farooq, who spoke with Abdullah’s son.
All students and staff at the Islamic Center were evacuated safely.
The mosque is in a residential neighborhood with shopping centers, restaurants and markets.
Following the attack in San Diego, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that she will increase security and surveillance at Islamic centers.
“I have spoken with Muslim community leaders in Los Angeles to offer my assistance and have ordered the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to mobilize additional resources to protect the city’s mosques,” Bass said on social media.
“Places of worship must be true sanctuaries where hatred and violence have no place,” insisted the mayor of the largest city in the state of California.
The measure, which aims to contain the risk of a “contagion effect”, comes just weeks before the start of the world football championship, of which Los Angeles is one of the main host cities.
Teams like Iran are among those that will play their group stage games at SoFi Stadium, in the greater Los Angeles area.
