In a suspected hate crime, two teenagers fatally shot three men at a mosque in San Diego, California. According to the police, the attackers took their own lives after the shooting.
Suspects were aged 17 and 18, said the officials. Their bodies were found in a vehicle blocks away from the mosque.
Police were alerted to the shooting at the Islamic Centre of San Diego and found three victims with gunshot wounds outside the front of the building.
Among the deceased was a security guard working at the centre. He played a “pivotal role” in preventing the attack from getting worse, said officials.
According to CBS, the security guard was the father of eight.
About two hours before the attack, the mother of one of the suspects had called the police and reported that her son had left home with several of her guns and her car.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said that the police found the suspect’s behaviour to be “not consistent” with someone who is considered suicidal.
A note left behind by the youth included, “generalised hate rhetoric and hate speech.” However, Wahl said that the note contained no specific threat to the mosque or to any other location or individual.
While the officers were responding to the shooting at the mosque, calls came in of another shooting near the mosque. The suspects had opened fire from their car at a landscaper, said Wahl.
When the incident unfolded on Monday, classes were ongoing at Al Rashid School on the campus. The school offers religion and language courses.
Nearby schools were placed on lockdown following the incident. A witness speaking to CBS said he heard up to 30 gunshots from what sounded like “a semi-automatic weapon”.
The Muslim community is currently preparing for one of its holiest seasons- the Eid al-Adha or the Festival of Sacrifice.
San Diego mosque shooting: Inside the frantic call from a shooter’s mother before suspected hate crime
