At least three people and two suspects are dead following a shooting Monday at the Islamic Center of San Diego, which authorities are investigating as a hate crime.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a press conference Monday afternoon that officers found three dead victims outside the center after responding to reports of an active shooter in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego.
The victims include a security guard and two staff members from the Islamic school on the center’s grounds, Imam Taha Hassane, the mosque’s director, told MS NOW. Authorities have not released the identities of the three people who were killed, but expect to do so in the coming days, the police chief said.
Wahl said the two suspected shooters were found dead inside a car on a nearby street from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Police initially said the suspects’ ages were 17 and 19, but later corrected them to 17 and 18.
One of the suspects also fired at a landscaper, who was not injured, according to Wahl.
“Because of the Islamic Center location, we are considering this a hate crime until it’s not,” Wahl said.
Police initially received a call Monday morning about a “runaway juvenile,” Wahl told reporters.
A mother of one of the deceased teens told authorities that her son was suicidal and that there were several firearms missing from their home. She also said he was accompanied by another individual wearing camouflage clothing.
The mother additionally told investigators she discovered a note left behind by the teenager.
“What that note looks like, what that note says, I’m not going to disclose right now,” Wahl said.
As officers searched for the two teenagers, investigators learned one suspect had ties to a local high school and alerted school police, Wahl said. Police then sent officers to the area around Madison High School, located about a mile from the Islamic Center where the shooting took place.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation told MS NOW that anti-Islamic writings were discovered inside the vehicle where the teens were found. The sources also confirmed that investigators found a note left behind.
Multiple officials told MS NOW that one of the firearms used in the attack had the words “Hate speech” written on it.
Nearby Sharp Memorial Hospital said it was receiving patients.
“Our disaster procedures have been activated and we are coordinating with the County of San Diego and other resources to respond to the incident,” a hospital spokesperson told MS NOW.
“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before. And at this moment all what I can say is we are sending our prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here,” Hassane told reporters after the shooting. “The other mosques and all the places of worship in our beautiful city should always be protected.”
Hassane called the targeting of a place of worship “extremely outrageous.”
The mosque, the largest in San Diego County, also houses the Al Rashid School, which teaches Arabic language and Islamic studies. All children present at the school are safe and officials established a reunification point for families.
“No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, said in a statement. “We are working to learn more about this incident and we encourage everyone to keep this community in your prayers.”
The FBI’s San Diego Field Office will assist local law enforcement with the investigation.
A White House official told MS NOW that President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting.
Trump called the shooting at the mosque a “terrible situation” while speaking to reporters at a White House healthcare event Monday.
“I’ve been given some early updates, but we’re going to be going back and looking at it very strongly,” Trump said.
Mark Santia contributed to this report.
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