Three Muslims have been killed by two teenage shooters at the lslamic Center of San Diego, California.
The two suspected shooters were also killed by law enforcement on Monday evening GMT.
“What we know at this time is that there are three deceased adult males,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said, referring to the three victims.
Wahl, speaking at a news conference after authorities had earlier declared the threat had been “neutralised,” said one of the deceased was a security guard who worked at the centre.
“Because of the Islamic centre location, we are considering this a hate crime until it’s not, and at this point we’re going to work closely with the FBI to make sure that we are matching all the resources that we need for this investigation,” he added.
Wahl also said that all children at the centre, which includes a school on site, were “safe.”
Earlier on Monday, authorities had said officers were responding to reports of an active shooter incident at the centre, located in the Clairemont neighborhood near the 7,000 block of Eckstrom Avenue.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
President Donald Trump described the shooting incident as a “terrible situation.”
“They’re giving a briefing on it …and 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 told reporters at the White House.
‘Extremely outrageous’ to target place of worship
Meanwhile, Islamic Center of San Diego Director Taha Hassane told reporters that it is “extremely outrageous” to target a place of worship.
“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,” Hassane said.
“People come to the Islamic centre to pray, to celebrate, to learn, not only Muslims …Just this morning, earlier, a group of people, non-Muslims, came just to learn about our faith and our cultures. So this is something that we have never expected.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said he had been briefed on the situation. “We are grateful to the first responders on the scene working to protect the community and urge everyone to follow guidance from local authorities,” it added.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in San Diego had also released a statement after the incident.
CAIR-San Diego Executive Director Tazheen Nizam said: “We strongly condemn this horrifying act of violence at the Islamic Center of San Diego. 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. We are working to learn more about this incident and we encourage everyone to keep this community in your prayers.”
