San Diego mosque shooting leaves 5 dead; hate crime probe underway

Five people, including two teenage suspects, are dead after a gunman opened fire at a San Diego mosque on Monday, authorities said.

The motive for the attack has not been disclosed, but San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the violence is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

The two suspects were found dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds inside a vehicle several blocks from the mosque, police said.

Officers responded to a report of an active shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego at 11:43 a.m. local time Monday, authorities said.

Police Chief Wahl said officers arrived four minutes later and found three men dead outside the mosque.

As officers began implementing active shooter protocols, they received another call reporting shots fired from a vehicle at a landscaper nearby; the landscaper was not struck.

Wahl said the mother of one of the alleged attackers called police around 9:40 a.m. to report that her son had taken her firearms and her car and fled.

She told authorities the teenager may be suicidal and could be with a friend.

The mother also said her son was wearing camouflage clothing.

Less than a quarter-mile away, police later found the two suspects — ages 17 and 18 — dead of self-inflicted wounds in a vehicle.

The three victims were identified as Amin Abdullah, Nader Awad and Mansour Kaziha, Tazheen Nizam, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations-San Diego (CAIR-SD), told the BBC.

Abdullah was a security guard at the mosque and a father of eight, Nizam said.

Police said he stopped the attack from being much worse.

“It’s fair to say [Abdullah’s] actions were heroic,” Wahl said. “Undoubtedly, he saved lives today.”

A family friend told the Associated Press that Abdullah was well-known at the mosque and had worked there for more than a decade.

Nizam, the CAIR spokeswoman, told the BBC: “Amin was loved by everybody, he stood there day after day, always smiling, welcoming everybody, welcoming the kids who came to the school.

“He was a shining light. He is a true hero, a martyr.”

The children of Awad, another victim, grew up in the mosque and his wife teaches at the school inside it, Nizam said.

Kaziha, the third victim, helped maintain the mosque’s grounds and a convenience store, the CAIR spokeswoman said.

Authorities have not yet released the names of the alleged attackers, although some U.S. media outlets have named them.

The attackers are 17 and 18 years old, according to police.

The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, Wahl said, noting that “hate rhetoric” was involved.

Hate speech was scrawled on one of the weapons, unnamed law enforcement officials told CNN.

A suicide note containing “writings about racial pride” was also found, the outlet reported.