Three people are dead in a shooting Monday at the Islamic Center of San Diego, authorities said. Two suspects are also dead. File photo by Justin Lane/EPA-EFE
Three people were killed in a shooting late Monday morning at the Islamic Center of San Diego, authorities said.
Two teenage suspects in the shootings were found in a car near the scene, dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, law enforcement officers said at a press conference in late afternoon. Authorities said that they’re considering the mosque shootings a hate crime.
The first reports of the shooting came in about 11:30 a.m. local time, San Diego’s KNSD-TV reported.
Up to 100 police officers arrived at the scene and found three people dead outside the mosque, CNN reported. Police searched the building and eventually cleared the scene.
As officers were responding, they were also called to another reported shooting a few blocks away, police said. A man there was shot at but not hit.
Police later found the bodies of the suspects, ages 17 and 19, in a car in another location.
One of the people in the shooting was a security guard at the mosque, and his actions likely kept the death toll from being much worse, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
The Islamic Center of San Diego is in the Clairemont neighborhood of the city. It’s the largest mosque in San Diego.
Imam Taha Hassane, director of the center, said it was “outrageous to target a place of worship,” CNN reported.
“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,”Hassane said. “And at this moment, all I can say is sending our prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told the city’s Muslim community that it will do what it takes to make them feel safe, KNSD-TV reported.
“But to reassert, as I always will: Hate has no place in the city of San Diego,” he said.
After the shooting, police departments in some of the United States’ largest cities said they were increasing security at mosques and other houses of worship.
