Gunmen kill 3 at San Diego Islamic center in suspected hate crime

Tuesday May 19, 2026

Gunfire tore through a mosque complex in San Diego on Monday, leaving three people dead and setting off a hate-crime investigation that has shaken the city’s Muslim community and drawn condemnation from officials across the country.

The attack unfolded at the Islamic Center of San Diego (ICSD), which includes both a mosque and a school. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said two suspected shooters were later found dead from what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

“Because of the Islamic centre location, we are considering this a hate crime until it’s not,” Wahl told reporters at a news conference.

Police said the suspects were males believed to be 17 and 19 years old. All three people killed were adults, while children at the school were physically unharmed, according to authorities.

One of the victims was a security guard at the Islamic centre, Wahl said, praising that person’s “pivotal role” in helping prevent the violence from becoming even more devastating.

The police chief also said the mother of one of the suspects had alerted police two hours before the shooting, saying her son was suicidal and had disappeared with several weapons and her car.

Investigators are still working to determine the motive and reconstruct the sequence of events, Wahl said, adding that officers are trying to “figure out and piece together exactly what led to this moment”.

Before the threat was declared “neutralised,” the San Diego Police Department had issued an active shooter alert at the ICSD.

Taha Hassane, the mosque’s imam, said the Islamic center is meant to be a gathering place where people, including non-Muslims, can pray, learn and celebrate together.

“It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship. Our Islamic centre is a place of worship,” Hassane said.

Mayor Todd Gloria said the city rejects hatred in all its forms.

“Hate has no place” in San Diego, he said, offering support to local Muslims.

“To our local Muslim community, our prayers are with you,” Gloria said.

“I want to assure our Muslim community that we will do everything it takes to make sure that you can feel safe in this city, and no resource will be spared in making sure that our religious institutions and locations are protected in this sensitive time.”

The ICSD sits in the Clairemont neighborhood, a residential area north of downtown San Diego.

Authorities have not released the names of the suspected shooters.

The violence comes at a time of heightened Islamophobia in the United States, where Muslim communities have repeatedly faced attacks in political rhetoric and commentary.

Last year, US Congressman Randy Fine, an ally of President Donald Trump, said Muslims should “be destroyed”.

Later on Monday, Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist close to Trump, called for the ICSD to be raided by the FBI and immigration authorities.

She also reposted a 2023 social media message from the imam’s wife in which she accused Israel of killing children.

“The mosque that was ‘supposedly’ shot up today,” Loomer wrote in a separate post. “Just remember the people who attend this mosque want us all to be killed.”

Trump said he had been briefed on the shooting and called it “terrible”.

“I’ve been given some early updates, but we’re going to be going back and looking at it very strongly,” the president said.

Officials across the US moved quickly to condemn the attack on Monday.

“We don’t have any details about a potential motive yet, but I’m devastated for those students, worshippers, and the Clairemont community. Everyone should be able to pray, worship, and learn in peace,” US Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, who represents San Diego, wrote on social media.

California Governor Gavin Newsom was monitoring the situation and coordinating with local law enforcement, his office said.

“We are grateful to the first responders on the scene working to protect the community and urge everyone to follow guidance from local authorities,” the office said in a statement.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency’s local division was responding and that “all resources will be made available, assisting local partners”.

Police established a reunification point for people in the area, while the mosque posted on social media that children could be picked up from a nearby church.

In New York, police said they were stepping up security around mosques following the San Diego shooting.

“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,” the department said.