Heroic security guard killed in San Diego mosque shooting

Two teenagers opened fire at a San Diego, California, mosque on Monday May 18, and killed three men before killing themselves a few blocks away, police said.

The attack at the Islamic Centre of San Diego is being investigated as a hate crime, San Diego Police chief Scott Wahl said at a news conference at a neighbourhood park across from the mosque.

Among those killed was a mosque security guard Amin Abdullah, who police believe “played a pivotal role” in keeping the attack from being “much worse”, the police chief said. The actions of a “heroic” security guard who was killed in the incident saved lives, he said.

The centre is the largest mosque in San Diego County and includes the Al Rashid School that offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Quran for students ages five and up, according to its website.

“All of the kids are safe,” Wahl said, appearing emotional. “Our hearts go out to the families that are in this moment being notified of what has happened to their loved ones.”

Police responded within four minutes of being called, according to police. As they arrived, gunshots rang out a few blocks away where a landscaper was shot at but uninjured.

The gunmen were found dead in a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road nearby.

The mosque’s director, Imam Taha Hassane called it “extremely outrageous to target a place of worship”.

“All the places of worship in our beautiful city should always be protected,” he said.

He added that the centre focused on interfaith relations and community building, and that a group of non-Muslims had been touring the mosque earlier on Monday to learn about Islam.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the US, condemned the shooting.

“No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school,” said CAIR-San Diego executive director Tazheen Nizam in a statement.

“We are working to learn more about this incident and we encourage everyone to keep this community in your prayers.”

"This should be recognized for what it is: a terrorist attack rooted in Islamophobia. Anti-Muslim propaganda radicalized these teens into carrying out this atrocity," said Islamic scholar Sheikh Yasir Qadhi

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said that “hate has no place” in the city.

“I want to assure our Muslim community that we will do everything it takes to make sure that you can feel safe in this city, and no resource will be spared in making sure that our religious institutions and locations are protected in this sensitive time.”

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said police would be increasing deployments to local mosques in the city “out of an abundance of caution” after what he said was an “apparent act of anti-Muslim violence” in San Diego.

The incident comes amid heightened Islamophobia in the US, where politicians and commentators have repeatedly launched broadsides targeting the Muslim community.

US Congressman Randy Fine, an ally of President Donald Trump, said late last year that Muslims should “be destroyed”.

Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist close to Trump, said the Islamic Centre of San Diego should be raided by the FBI and immigration authorities.