San Diego, CA
Did California’s assault weapons ban save lives in San Diego mosque attack?
California’s assault weapons ban may have helped limit the ability of two attackers to take lives at the Islamic Center of San Diego last week, according to a prominent gun control organization.
But the executive director of a San Diego gun rights group said the fact the attack even happened is proof the ban failed.
What the two don’t dispute is that the video from the attackers’ livestream shows one of them using a rifle that appears to comply with California’s strict gun laws. While authorities have not confirmed what models of firearms were used in the attack, representatives of the two organizations identified it as a semi-automatic Ruger Mini-14 rifle.
KPBS is not publishing the video, which authorities have not released, the names of the two teenage suspects or their writings, where they wrote they were motivated to conduct the attack by a number of sex and race-related grievances. They wore emblems associated with white supremacists and neo-Nazis and lashed out in their writings against women, Jewish people, Muslims and LGBTQ+ people.
They wrote they were inspired by the 2019 attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 51 Muslims. In their writings, the suspects said they wanted to replicate the Christchurch attack in San Diego.
The attack in Christchurch prompted New Zealand to change its gun laws.
Semiautomatic rifles sold in California have to meet certain criteria that other states don’t require.
The barrels must be at least 30 inches long and may not have collapsible or folding stocks. They cannot have a pistol grip behind the trigger, nor one attached at the forward part of the rifle.
And they cannot have a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds.
“From everything I saw from the video, (the rifle) looked like it met those criteria and looked like a very stock firearm that you could purchase at many dealers here in California,” said Steve Lindley, a policy advisor for the Brady Campaign.
Lindley spent almost 30 years in law enforcement, according to his biography. He worked for the National City Police Department and spent eight years leading the Bureau of Firearms at the California Department of Justice.
Lindley said features such as pistol grips make rifles more lethal.
“Over time it makes it easier for the shooter to have the firearm to their shoulder and in their hands,” he said. “Less fatigue, and it lines up a little bit better with your eyesight. The capacity of the magazines and other features on the firearm make it more accurate and easier to use in close quarters.”
The video shows the body cam operator firing the Mini-14 until it appears to jam. He struggles to clear the chamber and appears to remove and reinsert the magazine. He works the bolt, apparently unable to chamber a new round.
As the video continues, he continues to struggle with the bolt of the rifle before giving up, drawing a handgun and stepping outside.
The attackers never made it beyond the lobby, where about 100 schoolchildren and staff were inside the center. Authorities say they were delayed by the three men killed in the attack: Mansour Kaziha, 78, Nadir Awad, 57, and armed security guard Amin Abdullah.
The Islamic Center of San Diego
“Looking at the reality of this, a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun from killing a lot of kids. Full stop,” said Michael Schwartz, the executive director of the San Diego County Gun Owners PAC.
“The assault weapons ban that California has implemented clearly failed — it didn’t stop these two people,” he said.
Schwartz described the features banned by California as “cosmetic” and that the semi-automatic rifles function the same regardless of their stock, grips or magazine size.
“The idea that … the (high-capacity) magazine ban stopped them from getting a high-capacity magazine … there just isn’t any evidence or proof,” he said.
While high-capacity magazines can’t be bought or sold in California, Schwartz said anyone can travel to the next state over and buy as many as they want.
Although the Mini-14 used in the attack is capable of accepting 30 or 40-round magazines, said Lindley, the shooters appeared to only have a California-compliant 10-round magazine.
“If you have ten round magazines, you have ten rounds to shoot before you need to change magazines,” he said. “If you have a 30- or 40-round magazine, you can shoot 30 or 40 rounds before you need to reload.”
That’s important, Lindley said, because when shooters stop to reload, it gives victims time to either escape or attempt to subdue the attacker.
Schwartz said that didn’t affect the Islamic center attack.
“If he had a bigger magazine or he had a pistol grip or whatever, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome of this at all,” he said.
Lindley played a part in crafting more than 100 gun bills, according to the Brady Campaign. He said with so many guns in the United States, authorities can’t stop shootings — all they can do is try to limit the damage.
“We can prevent a lot of victimology by lowering the capacity of the magazines,” he said.
How interesting that Donald Trump is deporting Brown people who pay taxes and contribute to our economy (though they will never reap any benefits from those taxes) and instead is using our tax money to import and set up South Africans (none of whom are anything but White) who have never contributed to our economy. Could skin color perhaps have something to do with this policy?
— Nita Herpolsheimer, San Diego
Police were so unsettled by one of the teens later accused in the deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego that they took his guns away more than a year before the attack. Court records show Chula Vista police secured a gun violence restraining order against then-high school student Caleb Vazquez in January 2025 after classmates and staff reported he idolized mass shooters, talked about a “day of retribution,” and came to school dressed as mass murderers and the TV serial killer Dexter, per NBC News and KGTV. The school had shared social media posts in which Vazquez praised killers, including those behind a 2011 attack in Norway and a 2019 shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, NBC reports.
Vazquez allegedly admitted an infatuation with mass killings and an idolization of Adolf Hitler and was put on a 72-hour psychiatric hold. His father—initially uncooperative, according to a police affidavit—removed 26 weapons from the home and arranged for therapy before the restraining order was dismissed that March. Just over a year later, police say Vazquez, 18, and a 17-year-old he’d met online killed three people at the mosque—security guard Amin Abdullah, caretaker Mansour Kaziha, and neighbor Nadir Awad—before wounding a landscaper and dying by suicide. FBI officials say writings left behind were steeped in extremist hatred. In the aftermath, community members are questioning how so many warnings failed to prevent the attack and calling for stronger, earlier interventions on mental health and homicidal ideation.
SOUTH BAY (KGTV) — The funeral for Julian Guerrero, the 15-year-old boy found dead inside Otay Valley Regional Park on Friday, May 15, is set for this Saturday at noon at Funeraria del Angel Chula Vista.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses.
As his family prepares to lay him to rest, Julian’s mother said she is still waiting for answers about whether more could have been done to save him.
Julian was first reported missing on Thursday, May 14. The following morning, his missing persons flyers circulated across social media.
Neighbors were seen scouring the South Bay looking for him.
Then on Friday morning, San Diego police reported a body was discovered inside Otay Valley Regional Park in Fenton Pond, and it appeared to be a Hispanic, teenage male.
Julian’s mother, Laura Guerrero Gomez, said she was the one who ultimately led authorities to her son.
Guerrero Gomez said a homeless man was seen riding Julian’s bike on Friday, and after she asked where he got it, he led her to the area where Julian’s body was recovered.
Guerrero Gomez said when she first reported Julian missing, she told police her son was autistic, had a mental disability, and was taking medication — factors that made him especially vulnerable.
Jose, Guerrero Gomez’s other son, translated for ABC 10News from Spanish to English, and said that his mother still has many questions.
“She wants to know why there was no urgency, and looking for him, there was no Amber Alert. There was no helicopter trying to look for him. She had to do everything herself.”
Guerrero Gomez also questioned how her son’s missing case was overall handled.
Jose said, “The officer who took the initial report is the same officer who showed up [at Fenton Pond]. She was begging the officer, and there was no help whatsoever. He didn’t want to go into the park. They didn’t want to question the person who had the bike.”
The family also has questions about how Julian ended up in the water.
“He doesn’t know that area, he doesn’t like water, and he doesn’t know how to swim,” Jose said.
Guerrero Gomez also added that when she found her son, he was naked in the pond.
“She definitely thinks that it wasn’t accidental that something somebody did to him,” Jose said. “She’s pretty much feeling destroyed at this point because we weren’t taken seriously from the beginning. Julian didn’t deserve all that.”
Jose said his mother wants justice and hopes another family who has a child with a disability doesn’t have to face the same experience with SDPD as she did.
Julian was positively identified by the Medical Examiner’s Office days after he was found dead.
ABC 10News reached out to The San Diego Police Department for explanations on how they handled Julian’s case.
A spokesperson told ABC 10News their hearts go out to Julian’s family in the following statement:
Our hearts go out to Julian’s family for their loss. We understand there may be questions about what led to his death. At this time, the case is not being treated as a homicide, so it is not under SDPD’s purview. It is being handled by the Medical Examiner’s Office. If their investigation shows indications of a crime, then SDPD’s Homicide Unit would take over responsibility for the investigation. Based on the information officers received at the time of the report, SDPD’s initial response was for a runaway juvenile. Officers were told where he normally frequents and began checking several locations; however, they were unable to locate him. A report was taken, and his name and picture were added to the log for missing juveniles. SDPD did additional follow-up with the family on the morning of May 15, prior to him being found in the Otay Valley Regional Park. The decision to identify the body was in the hands of the Medical Examiner’s Office that day. Any further questions about the investigation can be directed to them.
ABC 10News has requested an autopsy, investigative and toxicology report from the Medical Examiner’s office in Julian’s cause of death.
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