One of the suspects in Monday’s shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego was identified by a law enforcement source as well as audio from police dispatch as Cain Clark.
Hours before the attack, the 17-year-old’s mother told police her son and car were missing, along with three weapons. She said her son was suicidal and with another person, both dressed in camouflage, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
The number of weapons he took from the home led investigators to believe the teen may be a threat to others, Wahl said.
Clark and another male suspect, age 18, were later found in a car near the shooting site and appeared to have died from self-inflicted wounds. Authorities say the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.
Outside their home in the early hours of Tuesday, Clark’s grandparents, David and Deborah Clark, told CNN they were “trying to process this” and said they were “very sorry for what happened.”
Clark had attended the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts before his family enrolled him in online learning, according to James Canning, a spokesperson for San Diego Unified School District.
Because Madison High School was considered his neighborhood school, Clark was still able to participate in campus activities and competed on the school’s wrestling team, Canning said. Clark, however, did not participate in school activities this year.
A former wrestling teammate who asked not to be identified said Clark appeared to be finding community through the team.
The teammate said he never heard Clark express Islamophobic or racially motivated views and never witnessed violent behavior.
Read more about the suspects here.
CNN’s Blake Ellis, Isabelle Chapman, Casey Tolan, Scott Glover and John Miller contributed to this report.