The family of one of the gunmen in the deadly Islamic Center of San Diego shooting is suing a mental health facility for negligence and wrongful death.
“This was preventable. This should have never occurred,” said Norm Finkelstein, attorney for the family.
According to the civil suit filed Aug. 31, the family of Caleb Vazquez, 18, said Park Mental Health, where he was an inpatient, missed several red flags, leading to his death and the deaths of three people at the Islamic Center.
“They're devastated by this whole thing,” Finkelstein said. “And they feel horrible for the shooting victims as well as for their son. I mean, it's just tragic.”
According to the lawsuit, the 18-year-old was undergoing treatment at a Park Mental Health residential facility for “autism, OCD, body dysmorphia, social anxiety and severe depression with psychotic episodes.”
Patients are allowed to leave during the day but must return by curfew. Vazquez did not. He went missing the night before the shooting.
The suit alleges that four days before the shooting, his mother received a call from the FBI. The FBI told the mother her son was on the dark web chatting about suicide and school shootings.
“He was going on the dark web and looking for people of similar mindset to get involved in shootings of mosques, synagogues, schools,” Finkelstein said.
That’s when she contacted her son’s therapist as well as Park Mental Health, according to the lawsuit.
“Figuring that they were going to take steps to protect him. He was doing this while he was there, while he was living at the facility,” Finkelstein said. “Apparently, they let him keep his phone and the next thing that happened was the shooting.”
According to the lawsuit, the teenager walked out of the residential facility in Normal Heights on May 17, the night before the shooting and was apparently picked up by the other gunman.
“Then the facility called the mom in the morning and said, ‘Have you seen him?’” Finkelstein said. “And she says, ‘What do you mean? You don't know where he is?’ And they said, ‘No.’”
In a statement, Park Mental Health said many of the claims in the lawsuit are incorrect or counterfactual.
“While it is understandable that his parents might seek to blame someone in their time of loss, this lawsuit is misguided in that neither Park nor its employees are responsible for Mr. Vazquez's actions,” the statement read. “Only he and his coconspirator bear responsibility for their conduct and, ultimately, his death.”
Finkelstein said the family is seeking monetary damages because the facility failed to notify authorities as soon as their patient went missing. He was identified as a threat by the FBI, Finkelstein said.
“When the mom called them and advised them what was going on with him. That is a red flag,” he said. “They needed to do something, and they just failed him and … unfortunately, they failed the folks at the mosque as well.”
The lawsuit was filed on the same day that authorities announced the arrest and indictment of a 17-year-old North Carolina teenager in connection with the shooting. Finklestein said that was a coincidence. Authorities haven’t told Vazquez’ parents anything about the case as the investigation is still ongoing, he said.
