Amin Abdullah, praised as hero guard, killed in San Diego shooting

By Sarah Shamim and The Associated PressTuesday May 19, 2026

A security guard at the Islamic Center in San Diego, California, is being remembered as a hero after police said he died trying to stop suspected shooters from getting inside the mosque complex, where authorities are investigating the attack as a hate crime.

At least three people were killed when two teenage attackers opened fire at the San Diego mosque on Monday. Officials have not publicly identified the victims, but community leaders have said the guard was Amin Abdullah.

U.S. officials said the guard “played a pivotal role” in keeping the attack from becoming “much worse.” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a news conference, “It’s fair to say his actions were heroic. Undoubtedly, he saved lives today.”

Children were inside a private school on the complex when the shooting began, ABC News reported.

The suspected gunmen later killed themselves a few blocks away.

Here is what is known so far about the guard and the attack at the mosque complex.

Who was Amin Abdullah?

A family friend described Abdullah as a familiar presence at the mosque, saying he had worked there for more than 10 years, The Associated Press reported.

“He wanted to defend the innocent, so he decided to become a security guard,” said Sheikh Uthman Ibn Farooq, who had spoken with Abdullah’s son. The family could not immediately be reached for comment.

Local media reports indicate Abdullah was the father of eight children.

Once reports identified Abdullah as one of those killed, tributes began appearing online. A Facebook profile linked to him has 1,800 followers and lists him as married.

His most recent post, dated May 13, included a video of a hawk perched on a mosque minaret and the caption: “Hawk on the minaret again, Allahu Akbar.”

On May 5, he wrote: “What is success? To many people success is financial stability, good reputation, beauty, etc. As for ME! Wallahi, thumma Wallahi. It is returning back to Allah OUR creator with the same pure soul he loaned me at birth.”

He had posted several times a month on the account since December 2025, sharing reflections on Islam as well as videos of himself practicing archery.

Among the tributes were matching Facebook, X and Instagram posts from American Muslim scholar Omar Suleiman, who shared a screenshot of one of Abdullah’s Facebook posts.

In the caption, Suleiman wrote: “Brother Amin Abdullah was the guard at the mosque in San Diego for years. He was instrumental in stopping the shooters from reaching the children today. This was his final post on FB. On these holiest days, may Allah have mercy on him and accept him as a martyr. Ameen”

What happened at the San Diego mosque?

Police said officers responded at about 11:43 a.m. local time (18:43 GMT) to reports of an active shooter in the 7000 block of Eckstrom Avenue and arrived within roughly four minutes.

Authorities said there had been no specific threat directed at the Islamic Center of San Diego, but investigators found signs that the suspects had engaged in “generalised hate rhetoric,” Wahl said. He declined to elaborate, saying more details about the circumstances leading to the attack would emerge in the coming days.

Before the shooting, police were already searching for one of the teenagers after his mother called to say he was suicidal and had run away, Wahl said. He added that weapons were missing from the home and that the mother’s vehicle was gone.

The urgency grew when officers learned the teen was dressed in camouflage and was with an acquaintance — details that were unexpected for someone believed to be heading toward suicide, Wahl said.

Police used every tool available to track down the 17- and 18-year-old, including automated license plate readers. Officers were sent to a mall near the vehicle’s last known location, and a school attended by at least one suspect was also alerted, Wahl said.

As investigators continued speaking with the mother about where the teenagers might have gone, reports came in of gunfire at the mosque.

The center is the largest mosque in San Diego County and also includes the Al Rashid School, which teaches Arabic, Islamic studies and the Quran to students ages 5 and older, according to its website.

Aerial footage broadcast on television showed more than a dozen children being escorted by hand out of the center’s parking lot as dozens of police vehicles surrounded the area. The mosque sits in a neighborhood of homes, apartments and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets.

The Islamic Center says on its website that its mission is not only to serve Muslims but also to “work with the larger community to serve the less fortunate, to educate, and to better our nation”. It holds five daily prayers and works with other groups and people of all faiths on social causes.

What has been the response so far?

Imam Taha Hassane, the mosque’s director, called the shooting “extremely outrageous to target a place of worship”.

“All the places of worship in our beautiful city should always be protected,” he said.

He said the center was committed to interfaith work and community building, and noted that a group of non-Muslims had toured the mosque earlier Monday to learn about Islam.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the United States, condemned the attack.

“We are deeply disturbed, but not at all surprised, to learn that those who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego were reportedly motivated by anti-Muslim hate,” CAIR said in a Monday statement.

“Hate against American Muslims is completely out of control. Numerous politicians have spent the past year claiming that all ‘mainstream Muslims’ should be destroyed, that American mosques and elementary schools should be shut down, and that American Muslims should be expelled from our nation. Just last week, House Republicans held a congressional hearing to fan the flames of hate against American Muslims, their houses of worship and even Muslim schoolchildren.

“A deadly attack on an American mosque was as predictable as it is unacceptable. Anti-Muslim hatred is one of the last acceptable forms of bigotry in American society, and it is long past time for the tolerance of this hate to end.”

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was horrified by the shooting. “I am horrified by the deadly attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, an apparent act of anti-Muslim violence,” he wrote on X.

“Islamophobia endangers Muslim communities across this country. We must confront it directly and stand together against the politics of fear and division. My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and the entire community grieving this devastating attack.

“The NYPD [New York Police Department] is increasing deployments to mosques across the city out of an abundance of caution. There are currently no known threats to NYC houses of worship.”

U.S. President Donald Trump called the shooting a “terrible situation”.