Three adult men, one of whom was a security guard, were killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, authorities said.
The security guard appeared to play a “pivotal role” in keeping the shooting from “being much worse,” police said at a news conference, noting that the victims were found out front of the center.
“His actions were heroic,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said of the security guard during a press briefing Monday. “Undoubtedly he saved lives today.”
People stand behind police tape at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, May 18, 2026.
Gregory Bull/AP Photo
All children are safe, police said. Photos showed children being evacuated from the area.
One person suffered a “non-firearm-related injury while responding to the incident” and was taken to San Diego’s Sharp Memorial Hospital, according to hospital officials.
Both suspects, ages 17 and 18, are dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said. Authorities initially said one of the suspects was 19, before later updating the age.
Emergency workers respond at the scene of a reported active shooter situation at the Islamic Center in San Diego, Calif., May 18, 2026.
Mike Blake/Reuters
The shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego was reported shortly before noon Monday, police said.
While officers were responding to the mosque, the police department “began to receive calls from just a couple blocks away that we had more active gunfire,” police said at the news conference.
At that scene, a landscaper was shot at, police said. The man may have been shot in a helmet, though that is “not totally confirmed at this point,” Wahl said.
People are led away by police from the Islamic Center of San Diego, May 18, 2026.
KGTV
People are led away by police from the Islamic Center of San Diego, May 18, 2026.
KGTV
“Moments later,” police said, officers were called to another location nearby where they found a car in the middle of the street, and there police said they discovered both suspects dead.
Police are investigating a potential motive but said the shooting is currently being considered a hate crime.
“There was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved,” Wahl said.
Anti-Islamic writings were found in the vehicle with the two teens, sources told ABC News.
Shooting at San Diego Islamic Center
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About two hours before the shooting at the mosque, San Diego police received a call involving one of the suspects, about a runaway juvenile, according to Wahl. The teen’s mother reported that “several of her weapons” and her vehicle were missing, he said. The mother also found a note, Wahl said, the contents of which the police chief did not share.
The mother told police that her son was with another individual and that they were both “dressed in camo,” Wahl said.
Officers were attempting to track down the vehicle and dispatched police to a mall and to a school with which one of the teens was associated, when the shooting at the mosque was reported, he said.
There was no specific threat to the school, the Islamic center or any other facility, Wahl stressed, though the “additional bits of information led us to believe that there was a bigger threat picture here that we needed to consider.”
A woman cries at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, May 18, 2026, in San Diego.
Gregory Bull/AP Photo
People embrace at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, May 18, 2026, in San Diego.
Gregory Bull/AP Photo
The Islamic Center of San Diego says it is the largest mosque in San Diego County.
“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,” Taha Hassan, Imam and Director of Islamic Center of San Diego, said at the news conference.
Hassan said he’s sending “prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here, and also the other mosques, and all the places of worship in our beautiful city.”
“We strongly condemn this horrifying act of violence,” Tazheen Nizam, the executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by this attack. No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school.”
A sheriff’s deputy stages at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, May 18, 2026.
Gregory Bull/AP Photo
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told ABC News that “we immediately have increased patrols around religious sites, both our Muslim, Jewish and other faith communities across the city. And I imagine we’ll maintain that posture for some time.”
“[I] believe that once the investigation is complete that that security guard will be credited with a tremendous saving of many, many lives, including many children, an absolute hero who sadly lost his life, but for whom we’re all grateful,” Gloria added.
In New York City, the NYPD said there’s “no known nexus to NYC or specific threats to NYC houses of worship,” but the department said it is increasing officer deployments to mosques “out of an abundance of caution.”
“I am horrified by the deadly attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, an apparent act of anti-Muslim violence,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement on X. “Islamophobia endangers Muslim communities across this country. We must confront it directly and stand together against the politics of fear and division. My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and the entire community grieving this devastating attack.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
