SAN DIEGO, California — A mother’s desperate call to police. Two teenagers in camouflage. Three men shot dead outside their mosque. And a warning that came just two hours too late.
That is the devastating sequence of events now emerging from Monday’s mass shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego — the largest mosque in San Diego County.
The attack erupted at approximately 11:40 a.m. local time, sending waves of panic through the Clairemont neighborhood as gunfire broke out near the complex’s entrance.
A Warning That Came Too Late
Before the first shot was fired, one suspect’s mother had already called 911.
She told police her son — whom she described as suicidal — had run away from home. He had taken three guns she owned, her vehicle, and left with a companion. Both teenagers were dressed in camouflage, she said.
Police immediately launched efforts to track the two youths down, dispatching patrols to a nearby shopping mall and the boy’s high school.
They were still searching when the calls came in about an active shooter at the mosque.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl also confirmed that a note had been found by the mother, though he declined to reveal its contents.
Three Men Killed, Security Guard Hailed as Hero
When officers arrived — more than 50 to 100 of them, within four minutes of the first call — they found three men affiliated with the mosque shot dead outside the building.
A security guard was among those killed. Chief Wahl credited him with likely preventing far greater bloodshed, suggesting his presence helped slow the attack.
Shortly after, police discovered the two teenage suspects — aged 17 and 18 — dead inside a vehicle parked in the middle of a nearby street, from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
No shots were fired by law enforcement during the entire episode.
Children at the Mosque School Were Safe
The Islamic Center of San Diego is not only a place of worship. It also houses the Bright Horizon Academy, an Islamic day school.
All children at the school were accounted for and confirmed safe following the shooting.
“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,” said Taha Hassane, the mosque’s imam and director. “It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship.”
Investigated as a Hate Crime
San Diego police and the FBI are jointly investigating the attack as a hate crime.
Chief Wahl said no specific threat against the mosque had been reported prior to the shooting. However, investigators had been tracking what he described as “generalized hate rhetoric and hate speech” in the area — which, combined with the report of an armed, runaway teenager in camouflage, had already triggered a heightened threat assessment before shots were fired.
In a separate but connected incident, shots were also fired at a landscaper working a couple of blocks away around the same time. The man was not injured — a helmet he was wearing may have deflected a bullet.
A Community on Edge
The attack came just days before Eid al-Adha, one of the most significant holidays in the Islamic calendar, and during the season of the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
It also follows a period of growing fear among Muslim and Jewish communities across the United States, as tensions in the Middle East have intensified following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran in February and the regional conflict that has since escalated.
In March, a separate attack targeted the largest Jewish temple in Michigan, where a man crashed a truck into the building, fired on security guards, and set off an explosion — a synagogue that, like the San Diego mosque, housed a day school.
Five hours after Monday’s shooting, investigators were still piecing together the full timeline of what happened and why.
What is already clear is that a community came to worship — and three of its members did not make it home.
Does this tragedy make you think about safety at houses of worship in your area? Share what you are feeling in the comments — this conversation matters.
