FBI urges public not to spread photos of San Diego mosque shooters

Federal authorities called on the public Friday to avoid disseminating purported images of the suspects in this week’s deadly shooting rampage at a Clairemont mosque, asserting that photographs posted online in the aftermath of the murders have been misidentified as one of the suspected teenage killers.

“The FBI urges the media and the public to refrain from further disseminating any photos of any alleged (shooters), as it only fuels speculation and hurts innocent people,” the agency’s San Diego office stated.

Images posted online, according to the FBI, have been misidentified as Caleb Liam Vazquez, 18, who allegedly opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday along with 17-year-old Cain Lee Clark, killing a security guard and two other men before shooting themselves to death.

“The photo identifying Vazquez is incorrect and misidentified as such,” the agency stated.

The FBI and the San Diego Police Department “will not be releasing (the suspects’) photos so to not give any platform to the hate the subjects intended to inject,” the statement added.

Killed in the apparent hate-crime attack were mosque security guard Amin Abdullah, 51, and congregation members Nadir Awad, 57, and Mansour Kaziha, 78.

Following the deadly gun rampage, the suspects fled in a car for a short distance before stopping and turning their guns on themselves, according to investigators.

“Writings found in the vehicle described hatred toward various religions and races,” the SDPD asserted in an online statement.