The three men killed at the Islamic Center of San Diego were remembered by Muslim leaders on Tuesday as heroes who tried to save the lives of children and community members inside the mosque.
The men were identified by several Muslim organizations as Amin Abdullah, a security guard at the center; Mansour Kaziha, manager of the mosque store; and Nader Awad.
The authorities said the three victims were shot and killed on Monday by two teenagers, who killed themselves in a vehicle blocks away soon after. The killings at the mosque were being investigated as a hate crime and set off new concerns of Islamophobia in the United States.
Mr. Abdullah, the security guard, was shot at least twice and fell before he stood and made his way inside to warn others in the center, according to Vanessa Chavez, a neighbor who saw the shooting.
“He is the definition of a hero who bravely made the ultimate sacrifice to save others over himself,” several Muslim organizations, including the Islamic Center of San Diego and the Council on American-Islamic Relations San Diego, said in a statement.
Sam Hamideh, a 46-year-old father whose son attends elementary school at the Islamic Center, said he had learned about the shooting from a friend who works as a police officer.
Mr. Hamideh’s first reaction was to call another friend: Mr. Abdullah. But he did not pick up the phone. Soon after, Mr. Hamideh received a text message from a relative that simply said, “Amin.”
“I knew then that this wonderful man — Brother Amin — who protected the children, was gone,” said Mr. Hamideh, a Palestinian American whose family has lived in San Diego for more than 50 years.
Mr. Abdullah had eight children of his own, Mr. Hamideh said.
Mr. Awad also turned away community members during the shooting and was recognized for saving additional lives, the groups said.
Abdul Saleem, who goes to the mosque about twice a week and whose five children once attended the school, was friends with the three men who were killed.
“I couldn’t stop crying yesterday, but I’m kind of jealous about them,” said Mr. Saleem, 75, who immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan in 1981. “They died in the best way that they defend other innocent people, and I wish I was one of them. And God chooses them.”
Mr. Saleem worked with Mr. Awad for more than two decades at a taxi company and later a limousine service. Mr. Awad lived near the mosque and his wife worked at the center as a teacher, and he rushed there when he heard there had been a shooting, according to Mr. Saleem and Scott Wahl, the San Diego police chief.
Mr. Kaziha was a community leader known as Abu Ezz who managed the mosque store for nearly 40 years, the organizations said. He was also considered the mosque’s caretaker and was a husband, father of five children and grandfather, according to Mr. Saleem.
Christina Morales is a national reporter for The Times.
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