Five dead at mosque shooting in San Diego, police say threat ‘neutralised’

Police cordon off an area close to the Islamic Centre of San Diego during the shooting incident. Photo / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images

Five people, including two teenage suspects, are dead after a shooting at the Islamic Centre of San Diego.

Scott Wahl, the San Diego police chief, said there was no further threat. He said one security guard, whom he did not name, was among the dead. Wahl said the guard played a “pivotal role” in assisting the immediate response, and that the shooting could’ve been “much worse”.

Wahl did not release any further details on the three individuals killed. Another person, a landscaper, was shot at but was not hit.

Wahl told reporters that the shooting was being investigated as a hate crime due to its location. Police said the two suspects were believed to have been 17 and 19 years old.

The teenagers were found with self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Wahl said: “The suspects at this point appear to have died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. There were no officers involved in firing their weapons.”

Wahl described the scene as “extremely chaotic”, saying that somewhere between 50 to 100 police officers responded to the scene. Officers, he said, observed the three deceased victims upon arriving.

FBI special agent Mark Brimley, of the bureau’s San Diego field office, told reporters the bureau was investigating a motive, and that it was “meticulously assessing the situation and is prepared to employ every resource we have to uncover the facts of this incident”.

He urged the public to share any information that could be useful in the investigation and said that the FBI had set up a digital media tip line.

He added: “No community should have to go through such a tragic incident, but we will work tirelessly until we learn the truth. We have on scene a number of special agents, task force officers or evidence response personnel, victim specialists and many more.”

The Islamic Centre describes itself online as the largest mosque in San Diego, and it serves as both a religious institution and a school.

Imam Taha Hassane, the centre’s director, told reporters that the center had “never experienced a tragedy like this before”.

He said: “It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship. People come to the Islamic Centre to pray, to celebrate, to learn. Not only Muslims but we have people from all walks of life.”

Hassane said that all children, staff and teachers were safe and had been evacuated from the building.

The shooting occurred on the first day of Dhul Hijjah, one of the most sacred periods in the Islamic year.

The Islamic Centre is also minutes away from an elementary school and a charter school, and it is in the neighbourhood of Clairemont Mesa East, a heavily residential area close to the beach.

Speaking to reporters, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said he wanted to reassure San Diego’s Muslim community that “we will do everything it takes to make sure that you can feel safe in this city”.

US President Donald Trump described the shooting as a “terrible situation”. telling reporters: “At the mosque, they’re giving a briefing. It’s a terrible situation. I’ve been given some early updates but we’re going to be going back and looking at it very strongly.”