Police responding to shooting at Islamic Center of San Diego

Two teenage suspects also died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, according to officials

Three people were killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California , in what authorities said was being investigated as a hate crime.

Two suspects, aged 17 and 18, were also dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, officials said. The FBI said it was looking for information from the public as it investigated the shooting. The bureau had set up a tip line.

The shooting occurred shortly before midday prayer at the Islamic Center, located in the Clairemont area of San Diego . The ICSD is the largest mosque in San Diego county.

“This is every community’s worst nightmare,” said Scott Wahl, the San Diego police chief.

Wahl said that the mother of one of the suspects called police about two hours before a deadly shooting, informing them that her son was missing as well as several of her weapons and her vehicle. Police were looking for the teen and his friend when they received a 911 call from ICSD.

Officers who were nearby searching for the teens rushed to ICSD and found three people had been shot dead. At the same time, dispatchers received another call that someone was shooting from a vehicle two blocks away, Wahl said. A landscaper “may have been shot in the helmet that deflected and saved his life”, he added.

Authorities confirmed that no children at the center’s school were harmed and said a reunification center had been set up for the families of those affected. Among the three people killed was a security guard at the center. Officials said that the guard helped “minimize” the threats, but were still working on confirming the details of what exactly occurred. “I think it’s fair to say [the guard’s] actions were heroic, and undoubtedly he saved lives today,” Wahl said.

Though police have not yet released any victims’ names, a family friend identified the slain security guard as Amin Abdullah.

“He wanted to defend the innocent so he decided to become a security guard,” said Shaykh Uthman Ibn Farooq.

He added that he had spoken with Abdullah’s son, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that the family could not immediately be reached for comment.

At a Monday afternoon press conference, Todd Gloria, San Diego’s mayor, said: “The threat currently has been addressed, children are safe and that is a good thing.

“Obviously, we’ve had the loss of life here at the Islamic Center of San Diego, and to our local Muslim community, my prayers are with you.”

According to Wahl, there was no specific threat made against the Islamic Center of San Diego, but investigators had recovered evidence that the attackers engaged in “generalized hate rhetoric”. He declined to immediately share more details.

At a second press conference later on Monday, Gloria added: “Hate has no home in San Diego. Islamophobia has no home in San Diego. An attack on any San Diegan is an attack on all San Diegans, and we will not stand for it in America’s finest city.”

A spokesperson for a local hospital, Sharp Memorial, also said that victims were being treated there.

“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before, and at this moment, all what I can say is sending our prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here and also the other mosques and all the places of worship in our beautiful city should always be protected,” said Taha Hassane, an imam and director of the center. “It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship.”

Hassane said his community was “mourning”. He implored: “Please let the families mourn, let them pray, as we do always at the Islamic Center of San Diego. It is a house of worship. It’s not a battlefield.

“The religious intolerance and the hate, unfortunately, that exists in our nation is unprecedented,” he said. “All of us, we are responsible for spreading the culture of tolerance, the culture of love.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned Monday’s shooting.

“We strongly condemn this horrifying act of violence,” Cair-San Diego’s executive director, Tazheen Nizam, said in a statement. “No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school.”

Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said he had been briefed on the situation and the governor’s office of emergency services was coordinating with local law enforcement.

“California sends our deepest condolences to the families and communities impacted by today’s shooting,” Newsom said.

“Worshippers anywhere should not have to fear for their lives. Hate has no place in California, and we will not tolerate acts of terror or intimidation against communities of faith.”

Donald Trump was also briefed on the shooting. “It’s a terrible situation,” Trump said.

The suspected shooters, according to the FBI, are believed to have died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. “There were no officers involved in firing their weapons,” said Mark Remily of the FBI.

In Los Angeles, more than 100 miles north of San Diego, police said they were increasing patrols at mosques, Islamic centers and places of worship around the city “out of an abundance of caution”.

Meanwhile, the New York police department announced that it was also aware of the shooting, saying: “While there is currently no known nexus to NYC or specific threats to NYC houses of worship, out of an abundance of caution, the NYPD is increasing deployments to mosques across the city.”