SAN DIEGO — A 17-year-old girl from North Carolina was indicted by a grand jury on Monday on murder and conspiracy charges for allegedly aiding and abetting the May 18 attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego. The teenager faces three murder charges and one count of conspiracy after prosecutors said she recorded a livestream of the shooting and published a manifesto from the two gunmen.

Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill announced the charges at a news conference, stating that federal authorities had evaluated whether to prosecute the teen but determined she faced only about three or four years in prison if convicted under federal law. This determination led officials to approach North Carolina prosecutors, who charged her under state law where a person accused of aiding and abetting a crime can be held criminally responsible in the same way as the person who carried it out.

The teenager was arrested last week ahead of the indictment. O'Neill expressed concerns about the timing of the arrest relative to upcoming religious observances. "The thought of her going back to school, with the weekend approaching, holy days approaching, we didn't know what she was capable of," O'Neill said.

Prosecutors allege the girl facilitated the dissemination of the attackers' ideology by publishing their manifesto. The document contained racist and antisemitic views, as well as references to white supremacist ideologies. It also pointed to a gunman who murdered 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, as one of their models.

O'Neill outlined the broader scope of the plotters' intentions during the press conference. "Number one, to kill as many people as possible on that day. Secondly, they wanted this carnage and destruction recorded.. livestreamed," he said.

He added that the pair had also planned further attacks "at a local Jewish temple and finally at a predominantly African American high school." The attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego occurred on 18 May 2024. Authorities say the assault was carried out by two males, aged 17 and 18, who opened fire at the mosque before taking their own lives. Investigators say the shooters recorded the attack using cameras mounted on GoPro-style helmets.

Three people died in the attack. Security guard Amin Abdullah exchanged gunfire with the attackers and initiated a lockdown, actions that helped protect around 140 children who were inside the building. Abdullah was fatally shot during the exchange. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl described Abdullah's actions as "heroic", saying they had "undoubtedly" saved lives.

Worshipper Mansour Kaziha and worshipper Nader Awad were also fatally shot. Kaziha and Awad drew the attentions of the shooters in a parking lot prior to the entry into the mosque. Authorities said the teenagers had an arsenal of around 30 guns and a crossbow, which investigators say were taken from one of the shooter's parents.

Why It Matters

The indictment shows the legal mechanisms used to hold remote accomplices accountable for mass violence, particularly when digital facilitation such as livestreaming and manifesto publication is involved. By charging the teenager under North Carolina law rather than federal statutes, prosecutors sought a penalty commensurate with the severity of the alleged assistance, avoiding the limited sentence range available under federal jurisdiction for her specific role.

The case also reflects the interconnected nature of modern extremist plots, where ideological inspiration from past events like the 2019 Christchurch shootings influences new attacks. The revelation that the gunmen planned additional targets at a Jewish temple and a high school indicates the potential scale of harm was broader than the single location attacked, making the intervention and subsequent charges part of a larger effort to disrupt coordinated violent extremism.

Timeline

On May 23, 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a correction regarding the Air Plan Approval for North Carolina Permitting Provisions Revisions, addressing erroneous cross-references in the State Implementation Plan. On 18 May 2024, the attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego occurred, resulting in the deaths of three people. During the incident, security guard Amin Abdullah exchanged gunfire with the attackers and initiated a lockdown, which helped protect around 140 children inside the building. Abdullah was fatally shot, and investigators later determined the shooters recorded the attack using cameras mounted on GoPro-style helmets.

How Sources Differ

Regarding the details of the Islamic Center incident, the Forsyth County District Attorney indictment focuses on the remote involvement of the accused, alleging that the girl recorded a livestream of the attack. In contrast, the San Diego Police Department incident report establishes the factual occurrence of the attack on 18 May, focusing on the physical event timeline rather than the digital dissemination aspects showed in the North Carolina charges.