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A security guard fatally shot Monday at a San Diego mosque is being hailed by police and the community for his “heroic” actions in protecting lives and preventing the attack from becoming far worse.
Amin Abdullah was one of three people killed at the Islamic Center of San Diego in what Police Chief Scott Wahl called a hate crime. The two other victims have not yet been identified.
According to the San Diego branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Abdullah helped save more than a dozen children and staff members inside the mosque’s school.
“He didn’t run. He stood his ground,” CAIR San Diego wrote in a fundraiser for Abdullah. “In plain words: Amin put himself between the gunmen and everyone inside.”
The Islamic Center said it is mourning its “beloved security guard, who gave his life protecting the children and community members of our masjid.”
“A courageous man who put himself on the line for the safety of others, who even in his last moments did not stop protecting our community,” the statement continued.
Police said the two male suspects, ages 17 and 18, appeared to have died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds and were found dead inside a car.
Before the shooting, Wahl said the mother of one of the teenagers contacted police to report her son missing, telling investigators she believed he was suicidal and that several of her weapons were missing.
“She also said her son was with a companion and that they were dressed in camo, and that is not consistent with what we would typically see from somebody who is suicidal,” Wahl told reporters.
The mother also found a note left by her son, though police declined to disclose its contents.
Following the tip, San Diego police responded to reports of a possible active shooter at the mosque. Around the same time, officers received a call about someone in a vehicle shooting at a landscaper.
Police said the landscaper was expected to survive, adding that a helmet he was wearing may have saved his life. Investigators believe the shooting involving the landscaper and the mosque attack were connected.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria called the shooting a “violent act of hate” and urged the city to unite against Islamophobia.
Imam Taha Hassane, the mosque’s director, said the attack was something the community never expected, but added that “the religious intolerance and hate, unfortunately, that exists in our nation is unprecedented.”
