A 17-year-old girl from North Carolina has been charged with murder by aiding and abetting in connection with a shooting that resulted in three deaths at a mosque in San Diego. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill announced the charges during a news conference in Winston-Salem on Monday. The girl, whose name has not been disclosed, was arrested last week and indicted by a grand jury on three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy just before the start of the school year.
According to O'Neill, the aiding-and-abetting charges carry the same penalties as if the girl had directly committed the attack. He stated, "The individual here, locally, was the person who was recording the livestream. She disseminated that information and she published their manifesto."
The shooting occurred on May 18 when two individuals, Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, entered the Islamic Center. They were confronted by a security guard, Amin Abdullah, who exchanged gunfire with them while initiating a lockdown to protect approximately 140 children nearby. The attackers killed Abdullah and two other men before taking their own lives in a vehicle. They left behind writings that expressed hatred towards various groups and referenced the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooting as a model for their actions.