Two teens kill three at San Diego mosque

Two teenagers opened fire at the largest mosque in San Diego, California on Monday (local time), killing three men before taking their own lives. The FBI has been called in to assist with investigations into the shooting, which is being handled as a hate crime. Here is what we know so far. What happened? Two teenage shooters opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego (ICSD) at about 11:40am, local time, police said. Among those killed was a mosque security guard, who police said

“played a pivotal role” in keeping the attack from being “much worse”. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said 50 to 100 officers from across the San Diego area immediately responded to the first “active shooter” call and converged on the mosque within four minutes. Footage from local television stations showed dozens of patrol cars on a highway bridge next to the ICSD, with police officers aiming rifles at the facility and their vehicles surrounding the grounds. Armed police in tactical gear were seen on

the roof od the mosque near the dome and televised images showed armed officers on the ground making their way through the complex. The shooters were found dead in a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road nearby, killed by apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, Chief Wahl said. No shots were fired by law enforcement during the incident. Children were attending a private school at the centre at the time of the attack. Aerial TV footage showed more than a dozen children holding hands and

being walked out of the parking lot of the centre as it was surrounded by scores of police vehicles. Police said all children were accounted for and safe after the shooting. A landscaper was fired at a couple blocks away from the mosque but was not injured. Chief Wahl said a bullet may have ricocheted against the landscaper’s helmet, which likely saved his life. Who were the shooters? Police say the shooters were two teenage males, aged 17 and 18. Police originally put the age

of the older teen at 19. Mr Wahl said police received a call about a “runaway juvenile” from the mother of one of the suspects. The woman believed her son was suicidal and said several of her weapons and her vehicle were missing. She said her son left with a companion and that they were both dressed in camouflage clothing. Police initiated efforts to track down the youths and were dispatching patrols to a nearby shopping mall and the son’s high school as a precaution

when calls came in reporting the mosque shooting. Investigators recovered anti-Islamic writing in the car, the New York Times reported, citing two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter. Police have not publicly suggested any motivation for the attack, with Chief Wahl saying the “circumstances that led up to this” would come out in the days ahead. “There was definitely hate rhetoric involved,” he said. Police are investigating the attack as a hate crime, and the FBI has been called in to assist. What is

the Islamic Center of San Diego? The centre is the largest mosque in San Diego County. It includes the Al Rashid School, which offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Koran for students aged five and older, according to its website. The community hub is in a neighbourhood of homes, apartments and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets. Imam Taha Hassane, the mosque’s director, said the centre focused on interfaith relations and community building, and that a group of non-Muslims had

toured the centre earlier that day to learn about Islam. “We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,” he told reporters. “It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship.” The ICSD website says its mission is to serve the Muslim population and “work with the larger community to serve the less fortunate, to educate, and to better our nation”. Five daily prayers are held there, and the mosque works with other organisations and people of all faiths on social causes. Are hate

crimes on the rise in the US? The number of hate crimes reported in the US has been trending down since October 2023, when 1,559 were reported, compared to 579 in April 2026, according to the FBI. Anti-hate groups say the data provides the best national snapshot of the issue, but it is incomplete. To collate the data, law enforcement agencies voluntarily submit data to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. “Unfortunately, reporting is not mandatory and, year in and year out, the data is

clearly incomplete,” the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) wrote in October. In its most recent report on hate crimes, which covered 2024, the FBI documented 11,679 hate crimes reported by more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies. But analysis of national surveys conducted by the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) suggested an average of almost 250,000 hate crimes occurred each year between 2005 and 2019. The SPLC believes the actual number of hate crimes each year lies somewhere between the BJS estimate

and the numbers reported by the FBI. Groups including the SPLC and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) say incidents of hate crimes and discrimination continue to rise across the US. “We are deeply disturbed, but not at all surprised, to learn that those who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego were reportedly motivated by anti-Muslim hate,” a statement by CAIR said. “Hate against American Muslims is completely out of control.” Muslim and Jewish communities have grown particularly apprehensive since the beginning of the

Iran war. In March, a 41-year-old Lebanese-born US citizen killed himself after crashing his truck into the largest Jewish temple in Michigan, opening fire on security guards and causing an explosion with fireworks. ABC/AP/Reuters

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