SAN DIEGO: Two teenage shooters opened fire at a San Diego mosque on Monday, killing three men, then killed themselves a few blocks away, in an attack that police are investigating as a hate crime.
There was no specific threat against the Islamic Center of San Diego, but authorities found evidence that the suspects had engaged in “generalized hate speech,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
He declined to give more details, but said the “circumstances that led to this” would emerge in the coming days.
Before the attack, officers were already looking for one of the teenagers after his mother called police worried that her son was suicidal and had run away, Wahl said. Weapons were missing from the home and the mother’s vehicle was missing, he added.
The search took on even more urgency after police learned he was wearing camouflage and with an acquaintance, details that were unexpected for someone who would die by suicide, he said.
Police began using whatever technology they could to find the 17- and 18-year-old, including automated license plate readers. The department sent authorities to a shopping center near where the car was tracked by police, and officers notified a school where at least one of the suspects had been a student, Wahl said.
As officers continued to interview the mother about where the teenagers might be, they received reports of shots fired at the mosque.
Among those killed was a mosque security guard, who police believe “played a key role” in keeping the attack from “much worse,” Wahl said.
“It’s fair to say his actions were heroic,” the chief said at a later news conference. “Without a doubt he saved lives today.”
A family friend identified the guard as Amin Abdullah, a familiar face at the mosque who had worked there for more than a decade.
“He wanted to protect the innocent, so he decided to become a security guard,” said Sheikh Uthman Ibn Farook, who had spoken to Abdullah’s son. The family could not immediately be reached for comment.
