The three men killed in Monday’s shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego were a shopkeeper, his friend and a security guard who had warned teachers inside the mosque’s school to lock the classroom doors before his death, according to the center’s director — an action he said probably saved many lives.
Imam Taha Hassane did not name the victims but described them as important members of the community. The storekeeper had worked at the mosque for 40 years, he said, and the friend was a neighbor who lived across the street.
When the attack unfolded, Hassane said he and his wife were hiding in their apartment upstairs and didn’t see the shooters. But he could hear gunshots.
“We could hear everything,” Hassane said.
The security guard was killed first, he said. But before he died, the man used his radio to warn the teachers at the school to lock the classroom doors. At the time, there were 200 children inside, he said.
“By doing this saved he saved so many, many, many souls,” Hassane said.
Authorities are working to piece together details of the shooting that is being treated as a hate crime, but they have not confirmed the names of the victims or suspects involved.
In addition to the three men found dead outside the mosque, two male suspects, ages 17 and 18, were found in a car in the middle of the street a few blocks away, dead from what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds, authorities said Monday.
Two hours before the first call about an active shooter, police said they received a call from the mother of a runaway juvenile who believed her son was suicidal. She said her vehicle and several of her weapons were missing and her son was with a companion dressed in camouflage. The information sparked a search using license plate recognition technology, which was underway when the first report of an active shooter at the mosque came in, police said.
“We do believe the security guard was able to help at least minimize the situation to the front area of the mosque,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told reporters Monday. “I think it’s fair to say his actions were heroic and undoubtedly he saved lives today.”
Authorities are appealing for more information from the public and investigating the motive of the attack. Wahl said that the suspects had made no known threat to the mosque but that “hate rhetoric was involved.”
The shooting at the center, which describes itself as the largest mosque in San Diego and includes a school, comes as houses of worship across the country have increased security in response to deadly attacks on religious communities.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said the police department would step up security at houses of worship in the city. “Our city was shaken by a violent act of hate,” he said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said “hate has no place in California, and we will not tolerate acts of terror or intimidation against communities of faith.”
Hassane said he was still trying to make sense of the incident, which has shaken San Diego’s diverse Muslim community. The mosque has always been a “peaceful place” that attracts up to 1,500 people during Friday prayers, he said, adding that it will hold a vigil Tuesday.
“I hope that this incident also will serve as a wake-up call for the entire American society,” he said in reference to gun violence and Islamophobia. “When we don’t watch what we say about one another as Americans, this is what we get.”
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