SAN DIEGO — A 17-year-old North Carolina girl has been charged with murder for allegedly recording the livestream of a deadly mass shooting in May at the Islamic Center of San Diego and publishing the shooters’ manifesto online, it was announced Wednesday.
Sarah Lindsey Santiago was arrested last week and indicted by a grand jury on three counts of murder by aiding and abetting and one count of conspiracy, according to Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill, who said the girl will be tried as an adult.
According to the indictment, Santiago had an agreement with the shooters before the attack to livestream the May 18 attack that claimed the lives of three people and then disseminate the shooters’ writings, North Carolina-based ABC 45 News reported.
She also allegedly bought and sent a patch to one of the teens bearing a white supremacist symbol, which the teen wore during the attack, according to the indictment.
The shooters, 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez, killed a guard and two other men, but officials say the victims were able to distract the gunmen and prevent them from potentially getting farther into the mosque, where 140 children were inside.
The shooters later shot themselves in a vehicle parked near the mosque.
O’Neill said Santiago is a local high school student and law enforcement officials decided to arrest her before she returned to school for the new year.
“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.
The prosecutor said the teen helped the shooters realize part of their plan, which was to have “their carnage and destruction recorded, livestreamed and disseminated out. They had written a manifesto out, which they also wanted to be distributed.”
O’Neill said that under North Carolina law, she may be found guilty of murder despite not directly committing the killings.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said in a statement released Monday afternoon, “Since this horrific incident unfolded, our teams have worked diligently alongside the FBI to leave no stone unturned in this case. This arrest is a meaningful step toward justice for the three irreplaceable lives that were lost that day. We stand committed to exhausting every lead to hold anyone who may have played a role in the shooting accountable.”
Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office said investigators conducted more than 100 interviews, executed more than 30 search warrants and reviewed more than 4 million messages as part of the criminal investigation.
“Today’s indictment sends a clear message: Physical distance from an attack does not place someone beyond accountability for the role they allegedly played in making it happen,” Remily said. “In today’s threat environment, individuals may believe they can encourage or facilitate acts of violence from hundreds of miles away without facing consequences. This case demonstrates that law enforcement will aggressively investigate those connections and pursue accountability wherever the evidence leads, including when juveniles are involved. It should serve as a warning that supporting an attack from afar can still carry serious consequences.”
In the aftermath of the shooting, local organizations such as Taalim and Supportive Parents Advocating for Respect and Kindness, or SPARK, renewed efforts to combat misinformation and hate through education about Islam and greater support for Muslim and Arab students in San Diego County schools.
