Teen gunmen kill 3 in apparent hate crime at California Islamic Center |
Two teenage gunmen opened fire on Monday at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, killing three men outside the mosque, one of them a security guard, before the two suspects were found dead, apparently from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said.
All of the children attending a day school that is part of the center – the largest mosque in the region near the Mexico border – were accounted for and safe after the shooting, which erupted shortly before 12 p.m. PDT (1900 GMT), according to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl.
Wahl said the FBI was called in to assist the investigation of the incident, which the police chief said authorities were treating as a hate crime, although no motive for the gun violence has been suggested.
The attack came the week before the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice and the annual Hajj pilgrimage of Islamic faithful to the holy site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,” said Taha Hassane, the imam and director of the Islamic Center, speaking to reporters. “It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship.”
Scores of law enforcement officers called to the scene encountered the bodies of three men affiliated with the mosque shot dead outside the building, including a security guard who officials credited with likely having helped prevent further bloodshed.
A short time later, police discovered the bodies of two teenage males, aged 17 and 19, in a vehicle in the middle of a street, dead from........