Crime & CourtsVersion 4

North Carolina Teen Charged in San Diego Islamic Center Attack

A 17-year-old girl faces murder and conspiracy charges in connection with the attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego, according to the Forsyth County District Attorney.

3 reports on this incident · first at Aug 31, 2026, 7:25 p.m. ET

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 31, 2026, 7:54 p.m. ETUpdated Sep 5, 2026, 2:22 p.m. ET

A 17-year-old girl in North Carolina has been in connection with the attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego, according to the , as reported by kpbs.org, kogo.iheart.com, oann.com, and abc11.com. The charges were announced on either August 31, 2026, or September 1, 2026, according to conflicting reports from kpbs.org and oann.com. The teen, identified in reports as Sarah Santiago, faces three counts of first-degree murder, murder by aiding and abetting, and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, according to kpbs.org, kogo.iheart.com, oann.com, and abc11.com. The government alleges that Santiago agreed prior to the attack to record the livestream, distribute it, and release a document written by the attackers, and that she carried out those tasks and purchased a patch bearing a white-supremacist symbol to send to one of the gunmen, according to kpbs.org. Other reports describe the allegations differently: kogo.iheart.com reports that the government claims the 17-year-old participated in the livestream of the attack, published it, and disseminated the shooters' manifesto, while abc11.com reports that the government claims she recorded a livestream of the shooting and disseminated the attackers' white-supremacist writings. The case is at the charging stage and has not been resolved. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The FBI and San Diego Police are investigating, according to kpbs.org and oann.com.

Earlier reports

Aug 31, 2026, 7:52 p.m. ET
North Carolina Teen Charged in San Diego Islamic Center Attack
A 17-year-old girl in North Carolina has been charged with multiple counts of murder, according to the Forsyth County District Attorney, as reported by kogo.iheart.com. The charges were announced on August 31, 2026.
The government alleges that the teenager participated in the livestream of a terrorist attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, published the livestream, and disseminated the manifesto of the two shooters. The matter is undecided and has not been resolved; the proceeding is at the charging stage, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Aug 31, 2026, 7:25 p.m. ETFirst report
North Carolina Teen Charged in San Diego Islamic Center Attack
A 17-year-old girl in North Carolina has been charged with multiple counts of murder in connection with the attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego, according to the Forsyth County District Attorney, as reported by kogo.iheart.com. The charges were announced on August 31, 2026.
The government alleges that the teen participated in the livestream of the attack, published the livestream, and disseminated the manifesto of the two shooters. The case is at the charging stage and has not been resolved; the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Was this report accurate and useful?

Sources

Revision history

Version 45 Sept 2026, 18:22current
Updated announced_on date range to reflect conflict between kpbs.org (2026-08-31) and oann.com (2026-09-01); added oann.com as source for charges and investigation.
Version 32 Sept 2026, 19:06
Added explicit statement that the case is undecided in the dek and body.
Version 131 Aug 2026, 23:52current
First published.
Version 131 Aug 2026, 23:25current
First published.
Version 11 Sept 2026, 00:52
First published.

How we work

This site models an investigative reporter rather than a wire desk. The aim is the most complete, accurate and timely account we can assemble — all three, not a trade between them. Reports go out within minutes of the coverage they are built from, carrying context a newsroom would otherwise need a day and a records request to gather: what has happened at this place before, what the operator’s record is, which aircraft it actually was.

Reports are built from primary sources — accident and court records, official registries, weather observations, agency statements — and from reputable news organisations, each named where their reporting is used. Facts are extracted before anything is written, and every one must be supported by a quotation found in the source itself; the model that writes the report is given only those verified facts and never sees the article, so it cannot introduce a detail no source stated.

Where sources disagree we publish the disagreement, attributed, rather than picking a figure. Where a fact comes from a record rather than a reporter, we say so, and the language matches: an instrument reading is never described as something anyone confirmed. Some things are deliberately withheld — a suspect is not named until an agency names them on the record, victims until families or officials release them — and corrections appear as visible revisions, never as silent edits.

None of that makes a report true. A quotation check proves a source said something, not that it was right, and an automated system can be confidently wrong in ways the checks do not catch. If something here is wrong, the feedback above is how it gets found. The full methodology, including what we refuse to publish.