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Scores of law enforcement officers on Monday converged on the Islamic Center of San Diego, the region’s largest mosque, to confront reports of an active shooter at the complex, and police later said the threat had been “neutralized.”
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told reporters Monday that three adults at the center were confirmed deceased, as well both suspects.
“This is every community’s worst nightmare,” Wahl stated at a Monday press conference following the shooting.
The San Diego Police Department reported in a post on X Monday afternoon that the “threat at the Islamic center has been neutralized.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria first reported around noon PDT (1900 GMT) that he had been informed of an “active shooter situation” at the Islamic center in the Clairemont community of San Diego, California’s second-most populous city. The San Diego police posted separately that its officers were on the scene “for a reported active shooter.”
Footage from local television stations showed dozens of patrol cars on a highway bridge next to the Islamic Center, with police officers and their vehicles surrounding the grounds, aiming rifles at the facility.
Police in tactical gear armed with rifles also were seen perched on the roof of the mosque near its dome, and TV images from the scene showed armed officers on the ground making their way through the complex.
The Islamic Center in Clairemont is the largest mosque in San Diego County and houses the Bright Horizon Academy, a school providing Islamic education, according to its website.
California Governor Gavin Newsom was briefed on the “evolving situation,” according to his office of emergency services.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated on X Monday that the bureau’s San Diego office “has responded to the scene of the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego this afternoon – all resources will be made available assisting local partners and we will update the public as we’re able.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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