3 killed in San Diego mosque shooting, police investigate hate crime

The attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego quickly took on the shape of a motive case. Three adult men were killed at the mosque on the 7000 block of Eckstrom Avenue in Clairemont after two teenage suspects opened fire, then were found dead nearby with apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Investigators are now working backward from the scene, the suspects’ writings, and their online footprint to determine whether the shooting was driven by hate.

The victims were identified as Amin Abdullah, 51, Mansour Kaziha, 78, and Nadir Awad, 57. Abdullah worked security at the mosque for about a decade, and officials said his response helped keep the attack from becoming far worse. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said Abdullah confronted the shooters, warned people by radio to lock down, and helped slow them before they reached classrooms. Roughly 140 children were inside the building, which also houses a school, and all of them were evacuated safely.

The shooting was reported around 11:43 a.m. on Monday, May 18, 2026, as the center was in one of the holiest stretches of the Islamic calendar, the start of Dhul-Hijjah, leading into Hajj and Eid al-Adha. Mayor Todd Gloria called it a violent act of hate and said, “hate has no home in San Diego.” He also said the timing made the violence especially devastating for the community gathered there.

The hate-crime theory is being built from several converging clues. Authorities said anti-Islamic writings were found in the vehicle tied to the suspects, and investigators believe the two teens met online and shared white supremacist views. Law enforcement officials have also said the case may have been influenced by nihilistic and accelerationist extremism. Federal bomb technicians cleared the vehicles associated with the suspects, while the FBI opened a digital tipline and asked the public to send photos, videos, and other visual information that could help reconstruct the attack.

The response has widened beyond the crime scene. San Diego police said staffing levels will be part of the review of how officers and dispatchers handled the call, even as they emphasized the response was shaped by the information available in the moment. The city also set up crisis resources for victims and families, and the FBI deployed victim specialists to the reunification center at 4125 Hathaway in San Diego.

For the mosque, the unanswered question is the one that now drives the case file: why this place, why these men, and what in the suspects’ online world turned a house of worship into the target of a deadly attack.