A 17-year-old girl residing in North Carolina has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder by aiding and abetting in connection with a deadly shooting at a San Diego, California, mosque in May. The teenager, who was arrested last week, is accused of livestreaming the attack and distributing white supremacist writings authored by the gunmen.
Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill stated that the decision to move forward with the charges was influenced by concerns over the teenager's potential future actions as the school year approached. "The thought of her going back to school, or with the weekend approaching, holy days approaching, we didn't know what she was capable of," O'Neill said. He further explained that under North Carolina law, individuals who aid and abet a crime are held as guilty as those who personally carry out the acts.
The May 18 attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego was carried out by 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez. The gunmen reportedly wore GoPro cameras to livestream the incident. During the attack, the shooters killed a security guard, Amin Abdullah, as well as Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad. The violence was halted when a security guard engaged in a shootout with the suspects, triggering a lockdown that protected approximately 140 children present at the mosque. Following the confrontation, the two gunmen died by suicide inside a nearby vehicle. Reports indicate that the attackers had also intended to target a synagogue.
