A 17-year-old from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been indicted in connection with a mass shooting at a mosque in San Diego. The teen recorded a livestream of the attack and shared the gunmen’s white-supremacist writings, according to Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill.
The girl, whose name was not released, was indicted on three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy. She faces charges of murder by aiding and abetting, O’Neill said at a Monday news conference.
What prosecutors say the teen did
Under North Carolina law, aiding-and-abetting charges carry the same penalties as if she had carried out the attack herself, O’Neill said. He described her as the person recording the livestream and the one who published the gunmen’s manifesto.
“She disseminated that information, and she published their manifesto.”
O’Neill said the teen was arrested the week before the indictment. The grand jury returned its indictment on Monday, the same day she was set to start the school year.
The San Diego mosque attack
The shooting happened May 18 at the Islamic Center of San Diego. Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, entered the building before a security guard exchanged gunfire with them and forced them back outside, O’Neill said.
The guard, Amin Abdullah, and two other men were killed. Clark and Vazquez died by suicide in a vehicle nearby, according to O’Neill.
About 140 children were steps away from the attack when the lockdown began, O’Neill said. The gunmen left behind writings full of vitriol against a wide range of people, he added.
Their writings cited the gunman who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019 as one of their models, O’Neill said.
Why this matters
North Carolina’s aiding-and-abetting statute allows prosecutors to seek the same punishment as the person who physically committed the crime. A grand jury indictment means a panel of citizens found enough evidence to move the case toward trial.
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