Three people have been killed in a shooting at a mosque in San Diego, California, which officials believe was perpetrated by two teenage attackers.
The attack took place on Monday morning as officers were investigating a call about a possibly suicidal teen who had run away from home.
Police were alerted to the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, and found three victims who had been shot in the front of the building.
Shortly afterwards, they received another call that shots had been fired nearby from a vehicle at a landscaper. Officers found the suspects – ages 17 and 18 – dead of self-inflicted wounds in a vehicle not far from the mosque.
Among the deceased victims was a security guard who worked at the centre and heroically prevented more people from dying, officials said without providing further details.
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, according to the FBI, because of writings found by the mother of one suspect.
Police were first called to the mosque at 11:43 local time (18:43 GMT) and “observed what appeared to be three deceased victims out front”, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told a news conference on Monday.
“There were no officers involved in firing their weapons,” Wahl said, and there was no sign of any gunman.
About two hours before the attack, the mother of one of the suspects had called police to report that her son had left home with several of her guns and her car.
The woman said he had gone with a companion, and both were dressed in camouflage.
Wahl said police found the suspect’s behaviour to be “not consistent” with someone who is considered suicidal.
A note the youth left behind also included “generalised hate rhetoric and hate speech”, he said.
Wahl added that the note contained no specific threat to the mosque, or to any other location or individual.
Investigators went to a local high school, where one of the teens was a student, as well as a shopping mall where the car had been seen.
Wahl said the motive for the attack is currently unknown, but was presumed to be a hate crime because of the location and prominence of the mosque.
When the shooting took place, officers were still speaking to the mother and were only a few blocks away from the mosque.
Those officers, upon finding the three victims outside the building, rushed inside and began following active shooter protocols.
While they were clearing rooms, more reports came in of another shooting nearby.
The suspects had allegedly opened fire from their car at a landscaper, who was uninjured.
Wahl said a bullet may have deflected off the landscaper’s hard hat, although this had yet to be confirmed.
When police arrived at the second scene, they discovered the dead bodies of both suspects.
Children were as when the incident unfolded on Monday. The Islamic Center campus houses the Al Rashid School, which offers religion and language courses.
Aerial video from the scene on Monday showed children holding hands and being escorted through a car park at the centre as police responded.
Nearby schools were also placed on lockdown.–BBC
