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Two teenage gunmen are believed to have killed three people at a San Diego mosque Monday, authorities said.
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Investigators are working to determine a motive of the attackers, who are believed to have later died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, but San Diego’s police chief said the violence was being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Police Chief Scott Wahl said the event was “every community’s worst nightmare.”
Here’s what we know about the shootings.
Authorities responded to a report of an active shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego, described on its website as the largest mosque in San Diego County, at 11:43 a.m., Wahl said.
The mosque is in San Diego’s Clairemont neighborhood, roughly 8 miles north of downtown.
Officers arrived four minutes later and found three men dead in front of the mosque, Wahl said.
One of the men was a security guard who, Wahl said, was “pivotal” in preventing more bloodshed.
“At this point, I think it’s fair to say his actions were heroic,” Wahl said. “Undoubtedly, he saved lives today.”
The victims were not identified Monday.
An imam from the Islamic Center said all teachers, students and other school staff members who were at the mosque were safe.
As the officers deployed what Wahl described as an active shooter response at the mosque and an adjacent school, more gunfire was reported blocks away, he said.
A landscaper who was working in the area was shot at but not struck, Wahl said.
Less than a quarter-mile from the landscaper, police found a vehicle in the middle of the street with the two teenagers believed to be the shooters inside, Wahl said.
Both are believed to have died by self-inflicted gunshot wounds, he said.
Two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation and a federal law enforcement official identified the suspects as Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18.
Clark attended high school virtually and was set to graduate later this month, according to a school district official.
The mother of one of the suspects called police Monday morning and said her son, her firearms and her car were missing, Wahl said.
She described the teen as suicidal and said he was most likely with a friend, Wahl said. Both were “dressed in camo,” he recalled her saying.
Officers were talking with the woman and trying to piece together where her son might be when they learned what was happening at the Islamic center, Wahl said.
Initially, police followed leads to a nearby mall, then connected one of the suspects to Madison High School. San Diego officials then alerted school police before receiving the call about the mosque.
“We noted that there were hits with the vehicle down in Fashion Valley. We dispatched officers into the area of the mall as a possible location that was a threat,” Wahl said. “We also gathered information that one of the individuals was associated in some form or fashion with Madison High School.”
They then “immediately dispatched themselves to the mosque,” he said.
The mother told police that her son left a note, Wahl said. He declined to provide additional details.
Wahl said “hate rhetoric” was involved in the shooting, which he said is being investigated as a hate crime. Investigators are examining possible anti-Islamic writings found in the teens’ car, two senior law enforcement officials said.
An imam with the mosque, Taha Hassane, said the center had never before experienced a tragedy like Monday’s shooting, and he said it is “outrageous” that someone would target a place of worship.
“People come to the Islamic center to pray, to celebrate, to learn,” he told reporters.
Monday was the first day of Dhul Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar and one of its most sacred periods.
In a news release, the mosque said it will remain closed until further notice.
The Monday shooting has rattled the Muslim community both in Southern California and across the United States, prompting some officials to call for an end to what they call a “campaign of hate” from mainstream politicians.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria called the shooting a “violent act of hate” and called on the city to unite against Islamophobia.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was horrified by “an apparent act of anti-Muslim violence.”
The California chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations, a civil rights and advocacy group, said in a statement that the shooting was directly linked to comments made by lawmakers with national standing.
“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,” said Hussam Ayloush, the CEO of CAIR’s California chapter.
“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,” he said.
Imam Taha Hassane, the mosque’s director, said that the shooting was unprecedented but placed it within a recognizable pattern of intolerance.
“This is something that we have never expected to take place, but at the same time the religious intolerance and the hate, unfortunately, that exists in our nation is unprecedented,” he said. “All of us, we are responsible for spreading the culture of tolerance, the culture of love.”
Earlier this year, multiple Republican politicians posted anti-Muslim messages to their social media accounts after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran.
Tim Stelloh is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
Rebecca Cohen is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
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