At least five people are dead, including two suspected shooters, after a Monday shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego that authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime.
The three adult victims killed in the attack were a mosque security guard and two staff members of the Islamic school located on the center’s grounds, according to authorities. A landscaper working nearby was shot at but was not injured.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said in a news briefing that the two suspected shooters, believed to be 17- and 19-year-old males, were found in a car and “appear to have died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.”
Police said the threat had been “neutralized” around 1 p.m. local time Monday afternoon, roughly an hour after they shared that they were responding to reports of an active shooter at the mosque in the Clairemont neighborhood, roughly eight miles north of downtown San Diego.
The police chief said officers arrived within four minutes of a 911 call to find three victims dead outside the Islamic Center, prompting what he described as an active shooter response. Officers found the victims within minutes of being dispatched to the mosque at 11:43 a.m. At roughly the same time, the chief said, authorities started receiving reports of gunfire a few blocks away. Between 50 and 100 law enforcement officers entered the facility, breaching doors and searching room by room to secure the building.
Law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told CNN that one of the suspects in the shooting took a firearm from their parents’ home and left behind a suicide note containing references to racial pride. Officials also said that hate-related messages were written on one of the weapons used in the attack, though the exact wording has yet to be disclosed.
Wahl said authorities are still investigating a motive but are treating the shooting as a hate crime “until it’s not.”
“We are actively investigating the things that led up to this. Obviously these things don’t typically just happen on a whim, and the information that we knew preceding it is what we’re actively looking into,” Wahl said.
He said authorities are reviewing security camera footage from the Islamic Center and piecing together what he described as a “tremendous amount” of evidence. Authorities have not yet released the identities of the victims or the suspected shooters. The investigation is ongoing.
One of the victims, the mosque security guard, played what Wahl described as a “pivotal” role in preventing additional bloodshed.
“I think [he] played a pivotal role in assisting from this being much worse,” Wahl said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which also responded to the scene, said it is committing all necessary resources to support the investigation.
The Islamic Center of San Diego, the largest mosque in San Diego County, also houses the Al Rashid Weekend School, which provides Arabic language and Islamic studies instruction. An imam from the mosque said that all teachers, students, and school staff members present at the time of the shooting were safely evacuated.
Imam Taha Hassane, director of the Islamic Center of San Diego, called the attack “outrageous.”
“It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship,” he said, adding that the mosque is a place where people come “to pray, celebrate and learn.”
Nearby Sharp Memorial Hospital said it was receiving patients and had activated disaster response procedures in coordination with county officials.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said he was receiving updates from law enforcement as emergency personnel worked to secure the area. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has also been briefed, according to his office. Additionally, the White House said President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting.
“They’re giving a briefing on it, at the mosque … and it’s a terrible situation,” Trump said during a healthcare event at the White House. “I’ve been given some early updates, but we’re going to be going back and looking at it very strongly.”
“No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement. The group condemned what it called a “horrifying act of violence.”
The organization also noted that the attack comes amid rising anti-Muslim bias nationwide, citing a record 8,683 complaints of discrimination and Islamophobia reported in 20205.
In response to the attack, the Los Angeles Police Department announced it is stepping up patrols around mosques, Islamic centers, and other places of worship across the city, located roughly two hours north of San Diego. Officials said there is currently no known threat to the Los Angeles area.
In a separate statement, Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass said she was “outraged and heartbroken” by the violence.
She noted that the attack occurred on the first day of Dhul Hijjah, one of the holiest periods in Islam, and emphasized that places of worship should remain safe spaces free from hatred and violence.
In New York, the NYPD said it was increasing police deployments to mosques “out of an abundance of caution,” though officials said there was no known threat to houses of worship in the city.
The Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that it is also closely monitoring the situation in San Diego, stating that there are no credible threats in Washington, D.C., and adding that it will keep close watch on religious institutions.
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