San Diego mosque shooting to be investigated as hate crime

Teenage gunmen have shot dead three men at the Islamic Center of San Diego before killing themselves. The incident is being treated as a hate crime by investigators.

Two gunmen aged 17 and 18 carried out a  shooting attack at a mosque in the southern Californian city of San Diego on Monday, killing three men and then themselves.

The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, with the two suspects reported by police to have engaged in "generalized hate rhetoric."

What happened in the attack?

Police said the shooting at the mosque was preceded by a call by the mother of one of the shooters to police in the morning saying that the boy had run away with her weapons and vehicle and that she feared he was suicidal.

As police were searching for the boy, additionally alarmed by information that he was dressed in camouflage and had a companion, reports arrived of a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city center. 

When police arrived, more shots were fired a few blocks away.

The shooters were then found dead with apparently self-inflicted gunwounds in a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road nearby, according to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl.

Wahl said no officers fired their weapons at the scene.

'Heroic' security guard among the victims

Wahl said a security guard at the mosque was among the three people killed in the attack and that his response had helped prevent more deaths.

"His actions were heroic and he undoubtedly saved lives today," Wahl said.

The identities of the other two victims were not immediately clear.

The Islamic center also houses a school, but its director, Imam Taha Hassane, said none of the students was harmed.  

"We have never experienced tragedy like this before," Hassane said.

"And at this moment all that I can say is, sending our prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here," he said.

Hassane said the center promoted interfaith relations and that a group of non-Muslims had been visiting it earlier on Monday to learn more about Islam.

Hate crime investigation

Wahl told reporters that police were, for the moment, "actively investigating this as a hate crime," saying that there "was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved." 

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is the first Muslim mayor of a major American city, said the attack was "an apparent act of anti-Muslim violence."

"Islamophobia endangers Muslim communities across this country," he posted on X, adding that New York police were boosting deployments to mosques "out of an abundance of caution."

US President Donald Trump said the shooting was a "terrible situation."

State Governor Gavin Newsom also voiced dismay at the attack.

 "Worshippers anywhere should not have to fear for their lives," he wrote on X.

"Hate has no place in California, and we will not tolerate acts of terror or intimidation against communities of faith," he said, adding, "To the San Diego Muslim community: California stands with you."

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko