Police have said<\/a> that Abdullah was instrumental in preventing the shooting from becoming a bigger massacre. Kaziha, who owned a nearby store and catered for a community event every Friday, was the first person to call 911<\/a>. Meanwhile, Awad, who lived across the street, ran into the school <\/a>when he heard there were people with guns on the premises. His wife is a teacher at the school.<\/p>\n San Diego residents are still in shock, unable to process the violence against their community. <\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t even be safe to learn and to be in community,\u201d said Homayra Yusufi, a local community advocate whose nephew attends the school. \u201cOur children have to live in constant fear of going to a place that\u2019s supposed to provide that.\u201d <\/p>\n Many people are frustrated with local police and question why law enforcement didn\u2019t arrive on the scene more quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was our community servants, who have been serving our community, who were the ones who saved those children,\u201d Yusufi said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the police. They were too late.\u201d<\/p>\n The San Diego Police Department declined to comment, citing \u201ca very extensive and sensitive investigation.\u201d <\/p>\n Khalid Alexander, the founder of Pillars of the Community, a nonprofit organization that advocates for communities and people negatively impacted by law enforcement, said police \u201cfailed by every possible rubric you can come up with.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThese folks that are supposed to be there to protect and serve,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Funerals for the three victims are set to take place on Thursday. <\/p>\n CAIR documented 8,683 civil rights complaints<\/a> nationwide in 2025 \u2014 the highest single-year total since the organization began tracking incidents in 1996. Another study, documented by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, found a 1,450% surge <\/a>in anti-Muslim posts by Republican officials between February 2025 and March 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely infuriating to see the kinds of commentary that\u2019s going out,\u201d said Yusufi, who believes the shooting is a \u201cdirect result\u201d of unchecked Islamophobia by elected officials. \u201cTerrible things that have been said by Congress, by this administration, and that hate and vitriol was going to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6a0f3afb1400004cb9028ee3.jpeg\")
A woman prays beside flowers placed outside of the Islamic Center of San Diego the day after the shooting. <\/p>\n