US: At least three dead in attack at San Diego mosque
Three people, including a security guard, were fatally shot after police responded on Monday to reports of an active shooter at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, California, with a large number of emergency vehicles rushing to the mosque complex.
"I am aware of the active shooter situation at the Islamic Center of San Diego," the city's mayor, Todd Gloria, said on X. "Emergency personnel are on scene and actively working to protect the community and secure the area."
Two "teen suspects" were found dead in a car down the street in what appeared to be "self-inflicted" gunshot wounds, the San Diego Police chief said in a press conference, adding that authorities were considering the attack to be a hate crime.
The San Diego Police Department said it responded to the attack, and there was no longer an active threat.
"The threat at the Islamic centre has been neutralised," the San Diego Police Department said on X.
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TV footage showed dozens of patrol cars parked on a highway near the Islamic centre, described on its website as the largest mosque in San Diego County, which lies in southern California.
California Governor Gavin Newsom was briefed on the ongoing incident, his press office said.
"We are grateful to the first responders on the scene working to protect the community and urge everyone to follow guidance from local authorities," a post on X said.
The FBI is assisting local law enforcement in investigating the shooting, CNN reported on Monday.
Islamophobic attacks in the US surged to a 15-month high in April, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (Mpac) said in a report last month.
The organisation said data suggested that the rise in attacks was linked to the Trump administration's policies and its move to attack Iran.
"The one factor we can identify in March is that at the end of February, the war in Iran started, and that is what we think is the delineation between what we saw before in 2025 versus what we're seeing here," Khuram Zaman, the founding director of the Center for Security, Technology and Policy at Mpac, told Middle East Eye previously.
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