The parents of the San Diego mosque shooter are suing his mental health facility, claiming staff failed to act on multiple warning signs before the deadly May attack.
Caleb Vazquez, 18, and 17-year-old Cain Clark killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego before dying by suicide in a white BMW. Now Lilliana and Marco Vazquez have filed suit against Park Mental Health Treatment Center of San Diego in Normal Heights, alleging negligence, dependent adult neglect, wrongful death and medical malpractice.
The teen had been admitted to the residential facility in April for treatment of autism, OCD, body dysmorphia, social anxiety and severe depression with psychotic episodes, according to the court filing. His mother had already raised alarms about his online activity before he vanished.
Days before the shooting, Lilliana Vazquez allegedly told Caleb’s therapist that the FBI had contacted her on May 14 regarding his disturbing “dark web” activity, including discussions about school shootings and suicide.
The morning of the attack, May 18, Park Mental Health’s program director texted Lilliana Vazquez asking if she knew where Caleb was, then confirmed he was missing. When his parents arrived at the facility at 9 a.m., a house manager showed them surveillance footage of Caleb pacing inside before leaving the property at 8:24 p.m. The previous night.
The lawsuit contends the mental health treatment facility failed to take crucial actions to stop Vazquez from engaging in “self destructive actions in a timely manner.”
Park Mental Health pushed back hard against the claims. “At the end of the day, Mr. Vazquez was involved in an infamous crime at the conclusion of which he was murdered by his criminal partner,” the facility said in a statement to FOX 5/KUSI.
“Neither Park nor any of its employees had the ability or the power to stop these heinous acts and as members of this community, we continue to mourn Mr. Vazquez’s victims,” the facility continued, calling the allegations “incorrect” and “counterfactual.”
Vazquez’s family had previously issued a heartfelt apology after the shooting, explaining he was on the autism spectrum and had been influenced by hateful rhetoric online.
The attack itself unfolded when Vazquez and Clark stormed the mosque and opened fire, killing three people in May before fleeing in a white BMW and killing themselves. The teen gunmen livestreamed their entire assault.
During their recorded exchange in the BMW, Vazquez urged Clark to shoot him in the head. Clark, sitting in the driver seat, shot Vazquez twice with a pistol before turning the weapon on himself.
The pair had released a manifesto before the shooting, obtained by The California Post, sharing hateful imagery and messages campaigning for a race war. Their weapons were covered in racist messages, including “Race War Now.”
Sarah Lindsey Santiago, 17, was recently charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection to the massacre. Prosecutors allege she agreed before the attack to livestream the massacre, distribute the recording publicly and release the gunmen’s manifesto. Authorities said she was allegedly one of three people who watched the livestream and later recorded and disseminated the footage and attackers’ writings.