Police in San Diego say three adult men were killed on Monday afternoon in a targeted shooting at the largest mosque in southern California, with officials saying the attack was carried out by two teens who were found dead of self-inflicted injuries in a vehicle a few blocks away.
The suspects, who’ve not yet been identified by name, were 17 and 19-years-old, according to authorities. San Diego police officials have also reported that one of those killed at the mosque was a security guard who was on site.
“I’ll tell you what got me,” [Police Chief Scott] Wahl said. “Seeing the kids come running out, just thankful to be alive.”
San Diego police have not released information about the alleged perpetrators’ possible motive or the total number of victims.
While officers were responding to the center, SDPD received other calls of gunshots blocks away on Salerno Street. Wahl said a landscaper working in the area was shot at, but was not hit. He said officers then received a call of a car in the middle of the street with two deceased teenagers in it, who are believed to be the shooters in the incident.
There are no indications that police engaged the suspects, despite unofficial reports to the contrary. It’s also unknown at this point whether the security guard at the mosque was armed and, if so, was able to return fire.
Aerial footage aired by NBC San Diego showed a chaotic scene, crowded by police officers and vehicles, with one person down surrounded by a pool of blood. Witnesses near the mosque told Times of San Diego that seven people have been injured.
The Islamic Center hosts five prayers a day at the Mosque, the next of which would have been at 1:15 p.m. The prior prayer had taken place around dawn.
The center is home to the lower campus of Bright Horizon Academy, formerly known as the Islamic School of San Diego, which serves Pre-K through 12th grade. The lower campus houses Pre-K to third grade students.
Thankfully, it sounds like no children were killed or injured in the attack, though that information could change. Coincidentally or not, today is the first day of the Muslim holiday Dhu al-Hijjah, though police have not said if there’s any connection between the holiday and the shooting.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s been quick to politicize other shootings in states with less restrictive gun laws than California, has yet to make any official statement, though his press office did post on X in mid-afternoon.
>>@CAGovernor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on an evolving situation in Clairemont community of San Diego, near the Islamic Center.
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (@Cal_OES) is coordinating with local law enforcement.
We are grateful to the first responders on the…
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) May 18, 2026
In any breaking news story information is subject to change, and there is no shortage of rumor, innuendo, and bad reporting floating around. Police have not yet said what kind of firearms were used in the attack, nor have they said how the suspects obtained them. In California, gun sales to adults under the age 21 are prohibited, so neither of the suspects were old enough to obtain a firearm legally in the Golden State.
Of course, just as we saw a week ago in Massachusetts, restrictive gun laws are no impediment to those who are intent on carrying out an act of violence. In Cambridge last Monday a convicted felon used a gun banned in the state to fire dozens of rounds at passing vehicles before he was neutralized by an armed citizen and a Massachusetts state trooper.
Police have not said whether the suspects left any sort of manifesto or communication behind that would indicate a motive, but the head of the local FBI office says investigators are treating the incident as a hate crime, at least for the moment. We’ll have some thoughts to share once more information has been released, but I think it’s important to wait until we have more facts… even if the gun control crowd won’t wait before using this cowardly attack to demand even more restrictions on our right to keep and bear arms in California.
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