Tree trimmer injured in deadly mosque shooting explains why he’s the ‘luckiest guy’

A landscaper shot near the San Diego mosque where two teens carried out a deadly shooting last week said he’s the “luckiest guy in the planet,” in his first statement which was issued by his attorney over the weekend.

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Tafu Letuli, 52, said he was inches away from meeting a horrible end to his life.

“If not for my helmet, I would probably not be alive today”, he said in the statement. “Every time I think about what happened, a strange feeling triggers a flood of emotions. I feel fortunate and sad, all at the same time. I keep asking myself ‘why me, I’m just a tree trimmer?’”

San Diego police had said the landscaper was on a residential street a few blocks away from the Islamic Center of San Diego on May 18 when he “ was shot at ,” suffering minor injuries after he was struck on a helmet he was wearing.

Letuli, the landscaper, was “shot at 5 or 6 times by his assailants, Cain Lee Clark, and Caleb Vasquez,” the gunmen who killed three men in the attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego last Monday, said Jerry Suppa, Letuli’s lawyer, in a statement Saturday.

One of those bullets struck the center of the helmet Letuli was wearing at the time. Letuli “was injured by bullet fragments that shattered his fiberglass helmet,” the statement reads. “He was bleeding from his forehead.”

Blood ran down Letuli’s face from his upper forehead, just above the hairline, down to his chin, according to the statement. He received treatment for his injuries at the scene, “and later Letuli was treated and examined at the emergency room at a hospital near his home.”

Although traumatized by the ordeal, Letuli sees himself as “the luckiest guy on the planet,” the statement said. He said he felt “fortunate and sad at the same time,” wondering why him. Letuli added that his heart goes out to the deadly victims of the shooting and their families.

Clark, 17 , and Vazquez, 18 , killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego last Monday before they killed themselves, authorities said. The teens were found dead in another street near where Letuli was shot . The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, police said .

Among the fatal victims at the mosque is Amin Abdullah, 51, a security guard who officials said played an important role in limiting the loss of life at the Islamic Center of San Diego. Mansour Kazih, 78, a founding member and caretaker of the mosque, and Nadir Awad, 57, who lived across the street from the Islamic Center, and his wife was a teacher at the school, were also killed in the shooting.

Officials believe Clark and Vazquez met online, where they “ appeared to have been radicalized ,” said Mark Remily, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego field office, last week.

Investigators looking into their motivations are working on authenticating a 75-page document posted online, with sections believed to have been written by Clark and Vazquez, that were filled with extremist material espousing anti-Islamic, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ views.

In a statement Monday , the Islamic Center of San Diego said it is “continuing to work with law enforcement and hired security professionals to evaluate additional safety measures and determine the best path forward.”

Suppa could not be reached Tuesday, but told NBC San Diego on Monday he felt compelled to help Letuli, who is his tree trimmer, by sharing a statement on behalf of him and his family since they’ve been very overwhelmed recently.

In the statement, Suppa said the the FBI’s victim health specialist in Sorrento Valley and other mental health professionals “have really been helpful in reaching out” to Letuli after he survived the shooting.

“After things settle down, Letuli will be in better shape to share his experience with others,” Suppa added.