Three people are reportedly dead after two teenage gunmen opened fire at a San Diego mosque on Monday.
As reported by NBC News, investigators confirmed that the gunmen are also dead from what appears to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds. San Diego Police are investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime.
Authorities responded to reports of an active shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego at 11:43am, according to Police Chief Scott Wahl. The mosque, believed to be the largest in San Diego County, is located in the Clairemont neighborhood, about 8 miles north of downtown San Diego.
Chief Wahl said officers arrived four minutes later and found three men dead at the front entrance. One victim was identified as Amin Abdullah, a security guard credited with protecting more than a dozen children and staff at a school inside the mosque. His identity was confirmed by the mosque and the San Diego branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), but has not been named by authorities.
A LaunchGood fundraiser to support Abdullah’s family has collected over $1.9 million in donations as of Tuesday afternoon.
“Those who knew him remember a man who greeted every person who walked through the masjid doors with a smile,” the CAIR fundraiser said. “He wasn’t just a guard. He was the first face of that community to anyone who came through the door, and the last line of defense when it mattered most.”
CAIR also identified the other two victims as Nader Award and longtime mosque store manager Mansour Kaziha.
Two local senior law enforcement officials and a federal law enforcement officer identified the shooters as Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18. The bodies of the two teens were found near the mosque after the shooting. Officers told NBC News that they are checking out possible Islamophobic writings found in the suspects’ car. A motive is yet to be determined, but the attack is being investigated as a hate crime.
This story is developing.
