San Diego mosque attack kills three, probes hate crime motive

Three people were killed when gunfire erupted outside the Islamic Center of San Diego in Clairemont, a mosque and school campus that serves as the largest in San Diego County. Police said the shooting happened on May 18, 2026, at about 11:43 to 11:45 a.m., and that two teenage suspects later died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a vehicle blocks away.

The dead were identified as Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad. Authorities said Abdullah, Kaziha and Awad were outside the mosque when the suspects approached. CAIR-CA said local leaders confirmed that at least one mosque member was killed and that school children were reportedly inside during the attack. San Diego police said the case is being investigated as a hate crime.

The Islamic Center of San Diego said it is located at 7050 Eckstrom Ave. and describes itself as open to visitors of all faiths. The mosque said it was “deeply grateful” for the overwhelming support, du’a and generosity shown by the community, and it set up a victim and family support fund after the attack. Sarah Youssef, who attended the center as an elementary school student in the early aughts, said she does not remember guards on patrol or gates keeping out danger, a contrast that captures how many American faith communities have hardened their daily routines around the threat of violence.

Religious and civil-rights leaders across California condemned the shooting, warning that mosques should be places of peace and urging attention to the wider climate of anti-Muslim hate. A Tuesday night interfaith vigil in San Diego drew hundreds of attendees and honored the victims as heroes, reflecting the speed with which the local Muslim community and its neighbors moved from shock to mourning to public solidarity.

By Wednesday, the mosque had reopened for prayer services, a rapid return to worship that underscored both grief and resolve. For many Muslims in San Diego and beyond, the attack at a place built for prayer, schooling and community reopened fears shaped by years of anti-Muslim violence, from the Christchurch massacre abroad to earlier hate crimes at home. The shooting left a familiar American pattern painfully visible: houses of worship adapting ever more tightly to danger, even as congregations insist on gathering anyway.