Three shot dead at San Diego mosque in ‘hate crime’ before teen gunmen found dead

Emergency workers respond at the scene of a reported active shooter situation at the Islamic Center, with yellow tape to cordon the area in the foreground, in San Diego, California, U.S., May 18, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Emergency workers respond at the scene of a reported active shooter situation at the Islamic Centre
(Picture: Reuters)

Three men were killed when gunmen burst into a San Diego mosque Monday and opened fire.

The gunmen, 17 and 19, were found dead in a car nearby, seemingly from self-inflicted gun wounds.

At least one of the three victims at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, the largest mosque in San Diego County was a security guard.

San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the guard in the line of fire appeared to have helped stop the shooters from committing a deadlier mass shooting.

‘One of the deceased is a security guard that works there, and I think played a pivotal role in assisting from this being much worse,’ the chief said.

SAN DIEGO, UNITED STATES - MAY 18: Police are deployed an area close to the Islamic Center of San Diego after reports of an active shooter at a mosque, urging residents to avoid the area and remain indoors, in San Diego, California, United States, on May 18, 2026. (Photo by Michael Ho Wai Lee /Anadolu via Getty Images)
An ATF agent stands at the scene of a reported active shooter situation at the Islamic Center in San Diego, California, U.S., May 18, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake
An ATF agent stands at the scene of a reported active shooter situation at the Islamic Centre (Picture: REUTERS)

Armed officers arriving at the mosque found the bodies of the three adult victims outside.

Only later did it become clear that the suspects had left the scene, and were dead in a car nearby.

The campus includes the Al Rashid School, which the website says offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Quran.

An Islamic Centre of San Diego spokesman said a school class was happening at the time of the shooting on Monday but all the teachers and children ‘were safe’.

A Muslim man uses a mobile phone as he stands with members of this community at the scene of a reported active shooter situation at the Islamic Center, with yellow tape placed behind them to cordon the area, in San Diego, California, U.S., May 18, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake
A man uses a mobile phone as he stands with members of this community at the scene (Picture: Reuters)

Aerial TV footage showed more than a dozen children holding hands and being walked out of the parking lot of the center that is surrounded by scores of police vehicles.

The white mosque is in a neighborhood of homes, apartments and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets.

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