SAN DIEGO — Two teenage attackers fatally shot three men, including a security guard, at San Diego’s largest mosque on Monday in a suspected hate crime, before taking their own lives, San Diego Police said. The security guard, a father of eight, reportedly saved several lives.
Two suspects were found dead in a car near the Islamic Centre of San Diego, a US city on the Pacific coast of California. They appeared to have died from self-inflicted wounds.
On Monday morning, the mother of one of the suspects called police to say her son had run away with a friend and was possibly suicidal. According to reports, police were already on the hunt for the two when the attack at the Islamic Centre began, and they found three victims with gunshot wounds outside the building’s facade.
Shortly afterwards, they received another call that shots had been fired nearby from a vehicle at a landscaper. Officers found the suspects, aged 17 and 18, dead of self-inflicted wounds in a vehicle blocks away from the mosque.
Among the deceased was a security guard, who worked at the centre and “played a pivotal role” in preventing the attack from being “much worse”, officials said.
“It’s fair to say his actions were heroic,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told a news conference. “Undoubtedly, he saved lives today.”
Authorities have not yet identified the three victims by name.
Police are investigating the attack as a hate crime. Hate speech was scrawled on one of the weapons, law enforcement officials told CNN. A suicide note that contained writings about racial pride was also found, according to officials.
Investigators went to a local high school, where one of the teens was a student, as well as a shopping mall where the car had been tracked.
When the shooting took place, officers were still speaking to the mother and were only a few blocks away from the mosque.
Officers, upon finding the three victims outside the building, rushed inside and began following active shooter protocols. While they were clearing rooms, more reports came in of another shooting nearby.
The suspects had opened fire from their car at a landscaper, who was uninjured, police said.
Aerial video from the scene showed children holding hands and being escorted through a car park at the centre as police responded.
The FBI appealed to the public for any information that could help the investigation. — Agencies
