Parents of San Diego Mosque Gunman Say a Mental Health Facility Failed to Heed FBI Warning

Just days before two teenagers shot and killed three people at a mosque in San Diego, the FBI warned the parents of one of the shooters. The warning was about Caleb Vazquez, 18, who had been posting dangerous comments online about school shootings. His mother says she passed that warning to the mental health facility where Vazquez lived and received treatment, but the facility did not act.

The lawsuit was filed on August 31 in a San Diego court and names Park Mental Health Treatment of San Diego. Vazquez was living at the facility and being treated for several conditions, including depression and psychotic episodes — times when a person loses touch with reality. His mother says the facility ignored clear signs that her son could hurt himself or others.

The FBI first called Vazquez's mother on the evening of May 14. She immediately left a message at the facility to alert the staff, and she followed up again the next day with her son's therapist and a program director. Despite these warnings, no action was taken to stop Vazquez from leaving the property.

On the morning of May 18 — the day of the shooting — staff called Vazquez's mother to say he was missing. Security footage showed he had walked out of the facility at 8 p.m. the night before. His parents spent the morning driving around, desperately searching for him.

That morning, Vazquez and 17-year-old Cain Clark attacked a mosque in San Diego and killed three people. Both young men then took their own lives. Police say the two met online and were radicalized there, meaning they were slowly pushed into believing violent and extreme ideas.

It is not clear whether Vazquez broke the rules by leaving or was allowed to go. Park Mental Health told radio station KPBS that the lawsuit was 'misguided' and that its employees were not responsible for Vazquez's actions. The facility said only Vazquez and Clark were responsible for what happened.

This was far from the first warning sign about Vazquez. In January 2026, he was hospitalized for three days after telling a classmate he wanted to carry out a school shooting. About a year before that, police had already taken 26 guns from his father under a California law that allows firearms to be removed from households where someone is considered dangerous.

The lawsuit was filed the same day that North Carolina authorities announced charges against a 17-year-old connected to the mosque attack. The FBI declined to comment, citing agency policy. The case has raised serious questions about what mental health facilities must do when they receive warnings about a patient who may be dangerous.