San Diego Police Classify Mosque Shooting as Suspected Hate Crime
Two teenage suspects killed themselves after the incident, which targeted the largest mosque in San Diego County and occurred shortly before the Eid al-Adha holiday.
San Diego Police have launched a formal investigation into a fatal shooting at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, classifying the incident as a suspected hate crime. The attack occurred on Monday morning, resulting in three deaths, including Amin Abdullah, a security guard who had worked at the complex for over a decade. Police Chief Scott Wahl stated that evidence of "generalised hate rhetoric" was found among the two teenage suspects, aged 17 and 18, who opened fire at the mosque before killing themselves a few blocks away.
Abdullah, identified by community leaders as a father of eight, was killed while attempting to prevent the gunmen from entering the facility. Chief Wahl described Abdullah’s actions as heroic, noting that he played a pivotal role in preventing the attack from being significantly worse. Authorities confirmed that children were attending a private school within the complex at the time of the shooting, and Abdullah’s intervention is credited with protecting those students.
The Islamic Centre of San Diego is the largest mosque in the county and includes the Al Rashid School, which serves students aged five and up. Imam Taha Hassane, the mosque’s director, condemned the violence as "extremely outrageous," emphasising the centre’s commitment to interfaith relations and community building. Hassane noted that a group of non-Muslims had been touring the mosque earlier on Monday to learn about Islam, highlighting the facility’s role in fostering dialogue within the broader community.
Police had been tracking one of the teenage suspects prior to the attack after his mother reported him as suicidal and missing. Authorities utilised automated licence plate readers to locate the suspects’ vehicle, dispatching officers to a nearby mall and alerting a school where one of the teenagers had been a student. The search intensified when officers learned the suspect was dressed in camouflage and accompanied by an acquaintance, leading to the discovery of the shooting at the mosque.
Tributes have poured in from community leaders and officials, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which condemned the anti-Muslim violence. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that the NYPD is increasing deployments to mosques across the city "out of an abundance of caution," although no specific threats to New York were identified. US President Donald Trump described the shooting as a "terrible situation," while community figures such as scholar Omar Suleiman honoured Abdullah as a martyr who protected the innocent.
