![\"Islamic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/teenage-gunmen-killed-themselves-following-mosque-shooting-which-left-three-dead.jpg\")
A vehicle\u2019s hatch and doors are opened near where a body of one of the teenagers was placed (Gregory Bull\/AP)\n<\/p>\nTwo teenagers opened fire at a San Diego mosque on Monday and killed three men before killing themselves a few blocks away, police said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He said the \u201ccircumstances that led up to this\u201d would come out in the days ahead.<\/p>\n
Mr Wahl said later that officers had been talking to one of the teenagers\u2019 mothers earlier in the day after she had contacted police around 9.40am local time to say her son was missing along with multiple weapons and her vehicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was beginning to develop a bigger picture as to what she was dealing with and was conveying that to our folks, and we were trying to put that together and get out in front of this as quickly as we could,\u201d Mr Wahl said.<\/p>\n
A vehicle\u2019s hatch and doors are opened near where a body of one of the teenagers was placed (Gregory Bull\/AP)\n<\/p>\n
The mother also found a note, Mr Wahl said. He did not disclose its contents but said of the case: \u201cThere was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved.<\/p>\n
He added there was no specific threat against the Islamic Centre of San Diego.<\/p>\n
Mr Wahl said the teenager whose mum contacted police was a student at Madison High School, about a mile away from the Islamic Centre. Police have not released the names of the teenagers.<\/p>\n
Among those killed was a mosque security guard, who police believe \u201cplayed a pivotal role\u201d in keeping the attack from being \u201cmuch worse\u201d, Mr Wahl said.<\/p>\n
Later he said authorities continued to review the security guard\u2019s response, but \u201cit\u2019s fair to say his actions were heroic\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cUndoubtedly he saved lives today,\u201d Mr Wahl said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the kids are safe,\u201d Mr Wahl said, appearing emotional. \u201cOur hearts go out to the families that are in this moment being notified of what has happened to their loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police responded within four minutes of being called, Mr Wahl said. As they arrived, gunshots rang out a few blocks away where a landscaper was shot at but uninjured.<\/p>\n
The gunmen were found dead in a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road nearby, Mr Wahl said.<\/p>\n
Aerial TV footage showed more than a dozen children holding hands and being walked out of the parking lot of the centre as it was surrounded by scores of police vehicles. The white mosque is in a neighbourhood of homes, apartments and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets.<\/p>\n
![\"Islamic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779176355_948_teenage-gunmen-killed-themselves-following-mosque-shooting-which-left-three-dead.jpg\")
Two women embrace near the scene of the shooting (Gregory Bull\/AP)\n<\/p>\n
Parents were directed to a nearby area to retrieve their children.<\/p>\n
The mosque\u2019s director, Imam Taha Hassane called it \u201cextremely outrageous to target a place of worship\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the places of worship in our beautiful city should always be protected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Islamic Centre\u2019s website says its mission is to not only serve the Muslim population but also \u201cwork with the larger community to serve the less fortunate, to educate, and to better our nation\u201d. Five daily prayers are held there, and the mosque works with other organisations and people of all faiths on social causes.<\/p>\n
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the US, condemned the shooting.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school,\u201d said CAIR-San Diego executive director Tazheen Nizam in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working to learn more about this incident and we encourage everyone to keep this community in your prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Governor Gavin Newsom\u2019s office said he was being briefed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are grateful to the first responders on the scene working to protect the community and urge everyone to follow guidance from local authorities,\u201d his office posted on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two teenagers opened fire at a San Diego mosque on Monday and killed three men before killing themselves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-456244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}