Amidst prayers and calls for peace during Tuesday night’s interfaith vigil, family members of two of the three victims from the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego were hailed as heroes.
Monsour Kaziha, security guard Amin Abdullah, and Nader Awad gave their lives to protect the people and children inside the mosque during Monday’s shooting.
The security guard wasn’t the only hero at the Islamic Center. The other two victims played huge roles in stalling the shooter and keeping them away from the children. NBC 7’s Allison Ash was live outside the mosque with what she’s learned about them.
“He knew his one purpose was to serve this beautiful community that we were born into,” said Yasser Kaziha.
Yasser Kaziha’s father, Monsour, managed the mosque store for 40 years.
While he is described as the glue that held the mosque together, Yasser said his dad loved boating and was a committed father.
“He was not only a pillar of the community, but a pillar of our household. He taught us to expect hardships and push through them, to fill our individual purposes, just like he did,” said Yasser.
Amin Abdullah was described as the always-smiling security guard. His life was also celebrated after police said he got into a gunfight with the two teenage gunmen, before calling for the lockdown protocols that saved lives.
Mohammed Kadura shared memories of his father-in-law, Nader Awad.
The mosque’s Imam said Awad lives right near the mosque, called 9-1-1 and rushed into harm’s way when he heard the gunshots at his place of worship.
“He did not want his community to be at harm, his place of worship to be harmed, and he risked his life for the sake of his people and the sake of the people he loved,” said son-in-law Mohammed Kadura.
It’s those heroics that were celebrated during the vigil, that helped to save the lives of nearly 140 kids in the school connected to the mosque.
The images of the children walking single file and hand-in-hand touched the hearts of the community.
“Yesterday, San Diego’s heart was outside of us. We found in our terror something true I think about who we are. We are family in the sense your children are mine to worry about,” said San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera.
While people said the vigil was a time for mourning, praying and honoring the lives stolen, they also said in the future, they’ll work on creating a world not based on fear, but on a shared humanity.
“Islam teaches us that we come together and we work towards bettering our community and bettering our society and that’s something we live through every day,” said Omari Abushman, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
They said part of a better future means turning down the temperature on political rhetoric and putting an end to Islamophobia.