Parents of one of two teenagers involved in a fatal mosque shooting in San Diego have filed a lawsuit alleging that a mental health treatment facility did not heed federal warnings about their son's concerning online behavior. The suit claims Park Mental Health Treatment of San Diego failed to intervene despite signs that 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez posed an imminent threat.
Vazquez was a resident at the facility receiving treatment for depression and psychotic episodes at the time of the incident. The lawsuit, filed in San Diego Superior Court on August 31, states that the FBI contacted Vazquez's mother on the evening of May 14 with concerns about his comments regarding school shootings on the dark web. The mother then relayed these warnings to the treatment facility, both to staff generally and specifically to Vazquez's therapist and a program director on May 15.
Employees at Park Mental Health contacted Vazquez's mother on the morning of May 18 to report him missing. Surveillance footage showed Vazquez leaving the facility property the previous evening, May 17, at 8 p.m. Vazquez and another teenager, 17-year-old Cain Clark, killed three people at a San Diego mosque on May 18 before taking their own lives. It remains unclear whether Vazquez was permitted to leave or if he violated facility rules.
Park Mental Health has disputed the lawsuit's claims, stating in a previous comment to KPBS that neither the facility nor its employees are responsible for Vazquez's actions. The center argued that Vazquez and his co-conspirator alone bear responsibility for their conduct and his death.
This was not the first indication of Vazquez's deteriorating mental state. In January 2026, he was hospitalized for approximately three days after telling a classmate he intended to carry out a school shooting. Almost exactly a year prior to that, police confiscated 26 firearms from his father under a California law enacted in 2014. This action was prompted by Vazquez exhibiting alarming behavior and idolizing Nazis, which led law enforcement to flag him as dangerous.
Authorities have indicated that Vazquez met Clark online, and both individuals became radicalized through their online interactions. Further details regarding the nature of their acquaintance or whose weapons were used in the shooting have not been publicly disclosed by police.
The lawsuit was filed on the same day that North Carolina authorities announced the indictment of a 17-year-old in connection with the shooting.