Three men, two suspects dead after US mosque shooting

Three men were killed in a gun attack at a mosque complex in California, with the two suspected teenage shooters later found dead.

Police said emergency response teams found the victims outside the sprawling Islamic Center of San Diego.

The shooters, aged 18 and 17, died by suicide, police said.

"We are actively investigating this as a hate crime," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told reporters.

"There was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved."

The Islamic Center is described on its website as the largest mosque in San Diego county, which lies in southern California.

After a short period of lockdown when authorities advised residents to stay inside, San Diego police announced that the threat at the centre had been "neutralised".

"We received a call of an active shooter at the Islamic Center. Within four minutes, officers arrived on scene and observed immediately three deceased victims out in front," Mr Wahl said.

"We immediately began to deploy with an active shooter response into the mosque and adjacent school," he said, adding that police had received calls about more gunfire nearby, where a landscaper had been shot at but not hit.

Place of worship targeted

A few blocks from the Islamic Center, police found a vehicle in the middle of the street with the two shooters dead inside.

"There were no officers involved in firing their weapons," Mr Wahl said.

He said that a security guard at the Islamic Center was among the three victims killed and his actions had helped prevent a deadlier attack.

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

Mr Wahl said that the mother of one of the suspects had contacted police two hours before the attack and reported that several weapons and her vehicle were missing.

According to the chief, the mother said her son was with a companion and the two were dressed in camouflage.

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.

Mr Wahldeclined to disclose the contents of a note he said was ⁠found by the boy's mother.

Prior to the shooting police were not made aware of any "specific threat" to the mosque or any religious centre, school, shopping area, or any other place, Mr Wahl said.

The attack came the week before the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice and the annual Hajj pilgrimage of Islamic faithful to the holy site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

The imam at the mosque, Taha Hassane, said that all the staff, teachers and children at the mosque were safe.

"We have never experienced tragedy like this before. 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.

"It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship," the imam added.

US President Donald Trump described the shooting as a "terrible situation".

"I've been given some early updates, but we're going to be going back and looking at it very strongly," he told reporters.

State Governor Gavin Newsom expressed horror at the attack, saying: "Worshippers anywhere should not have to fear for their lives.

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

The Islamic Center is the largest mosque in San Diego County and houses the Bright Horizon Academy, a school providing Islamic education.

Although random gun violence has become a common occurrence in public places across the United States, Muslim and Jewish communities have grown particularly apprehensive since US and Israeli forces launched airstrikes on Iran on 28 February, and Iran responded with its own air attacks on Israel and several Gulf states, sparking an intensifying war across the region.

In March, a 41-year-old Lebanese-born US citizen died by suicide after crashing his truck into the largest Jewish temple in Michigan, opening fire on security guards and causing an explosion with fireworks. The synagogue near Detroit, like the San Diego mosque, housed a day school.