A shooting near the Islamic Center of San Diego left three people dead on Monday. The police later found two teenage suspects dead inside a nearby vehicle with apparent self inflicted gunshot wounds, reports say.
According to Scott Wahl, officers responded to reports of an active shooter near the mosque shortly before midday and found three victims outside the building.
Police said that more gunfire was reported around the same time a few blocks away. There, the suspects allegedly fired at a landscaper.
Two hours before San Diego police received calls of shots fired at the Islamic Center, a mother reported her son was missing, along with multiple weapons and her vehicle.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 19, 2026
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl says the call elevated as the mother started to piece together more… pic.twitter.com/fRRvL28dK1
Authorities later discovered a vehicle parked in the middle of a residential street. Officers found two male teenagers, aged 16 and 18, inside the car.
Both had died from what appeared to be self inflicted gunshot wounds, Wahl said. The identities of the victims and suspects have not yet been released.
Police also said that one of the victims was a security guard at the Islamic centre who played a “pivotal role” in preventing the attack from becoming “much worse”.
Investigators are treating the shooting as a possible hate crime, according to police.
The Islamic Centre of San Diego describes itself as the largest mosque in San Diego County. The centre also operates a school for children from pre kindergarten to the third grade. Authorities have confirmed that no children were injured in the attack.
Two hours before San Diego police received calls of shots fired at the Islamic Center, a mother reported her son was missing, along with multiple weapons and her vehicle.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 19, 2026
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl says the call elevated as the mother started to piece together more… pic.twitter.com/fRRvL28dK1
Meanwhile, President of the United States (US) Donald Trump said he had received early briefings on the shooting and described it as a “terrible situation”.
“They’re giving a briefing on it… It’s a terrible situation. I’ve been given some early updates, but we’re going to be going back and looking at it very strongly,” Trump said.
Islamic Center San Diego shooting
Before, there were no official reports of casualties, according to the details. But the reports say that the Associated Press quoted officer Anthony Carrasco as saying he believed some people had been shot.
Later, according to the reports, the police department said the threat had been “neutralised.” However, they did not give further details. “We have significant resources on scene at this time,” the department said.
