What we know so far
• Three people, including a security guard, were killed in a shooting today at San Diego’s largest mosque, authorities said.
• Two teen suspects were found dead in a car near the Islamic Center of San Diego, Mark Remily, the special agent in charge of FBI San Diego, said at an earlier news conference. They “appear to have died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
• One of the suspects took a firearm from their parents’ home and left suicide note that contained writings about racial pride, law enforcement officials told CNN. Hate speech was also scrawled on one of the weapons, they said.
Teenage suspect took three weapons from mom's home, chief says
One of the teenage suspects took three weapons from his mother’s home before investigators say he carried out an attack on the Islamic Center in San Diego, the city’s police chief said.
The 17-year-old’s mother told police her son and car were missing along with “several of her weapons” Chief Scott Wahl told reporters.
The number of weapons he took from the home lead investigators to believe the teen may be a threat to others, as well, the chief said.
“One person that’s suicidal is not going to take three weapons from a location,” Wahl said.
The concerning details triggered “a much bigger threat assessment” as they searched for the teen’s whereabouts, he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and other public officials condemn shooting
Public officials have rushed to condemn today’s fatal shooting at San Diego’s largest mosque.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he and his wife were “horrified by today’s violent attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, where families and children gather, and neighbors worship in peace and fellowship.”
“Worshippers anywhere should not have to fear for their lives,” his statement continues. “Hate has no place in California, and we will not tolerate acts of terror or intimidation against communities of faith.”
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani – who made history as the city’s first Muslim mayor – likewise said he was “horrified” by the attack.
“Islamophobia endangers Muslim communities across this country,” he said in a post on X. “We must confront it directly and stand together against the politics of fear and division.”
US Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and US Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California also condemned the shooting.
Suspect's hate speech did not specifically include threat to the mosque, police chief says
There was no specific threat to any place mentioned in the note and weapons of one of the suspects who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
Wahl also spoke about the reality that all religious facilities across the United States and around the world are aware of safety risks associated with them.
“It’s an unfortunate reality of the world we live in today. But I would say absolutely, everybody feels that insecurity,” he added.
The FBI pledges to "leave no stone unturned"
The FBI is working closely with law enforcement partners to gather evidence after a fatal shooting at San Diego’s largest mosque Monday, Mark Remily, the special agent in charge of FBI San Diego, said at a news conference.
“We are in the process of interviewing family and friends of the subjects, and evidence tech evidence response teams are gathering all the evidence from the scene for review,” Remily said. “We will process everything as quickly, but as meticulously as we can.”
He added that bomb techs have cleared the vehicle where two teenage suspects were found dead.
“We will continue to coordinate with our law enforcement partners and work closely with them for as long as it takes until we understand what happened,” Remily said. “We will leave no stone unturned.”
Authorities won’t yet release identities of 3 victims of mosque shooting, chief says
Authorities will not yet release the identities of the three people who were killed in a shooting today at San Diego’s largest mosque but will do so in the days ahead, said Police Chief Scott Wahl.
“We’ve just basically notified family of those victims. We’re not going to put out their identity right now,” Wahl said at a news conference.
“We’re trying to protect kind of what we have. There’s more work to be done, and we want to make sure that we’re preserving some of that for the moment,” he continued.
Police "actively investigating" shooting as a hate crime
Police are “actively investigating” the fatal shooting at a San Diego mosque as a hate crime, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a news conference.
“There are details and information that we are investigating as to exactly what those, what the hate speech or the hate words were that were conveyed,” he said.
“But yes, it’s being investigated as a hate crime. At this point, there was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved.”
San Diego mayor condemns Islamophobia and pledges protection for houses of worship
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria strongly condemned today’s attack and promised additional protections for houses of worship in the city that are on edge after the shooting.
The mayor said the city will be “making sure that we anticipate and try and prevent the very worst.”
“We didn’t meet that mark today, but I have deep gratitude to the security officer who was here, whose actions and heroicism undoubtedly saved lives, and I’m grateful to every law enforcement individual who ran toward this call to help bring these people to justice,” he added.
Security guard's actions were "heroic" and "saved lives," police chief says
The actions of the security guard who was killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego today helped “at least minimize the situation,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
The police chief said officials are still working on determining whether or not the security guard engaged the suspects. He was at the front area of the mosque, Wahl said.
“Until we know more, I don’t want to speculate, but at this point I think it’s fair to say his actions were heroic and undoubtedly he saved lives today,” he said.
Teen's mother found note he left, police chief says
The mother of one of the suspects in Monday’s shooting — first reported to police as a “runaway juvenile” — found a note left by the teenager, said Police Chief Scott Wahl.
“What that note looks like, what that note says, I’m not going to disclose right now,” Wahl said.
Person yells at mayor at news conference about mosque shooting
As San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria took the podium at a news conference about the shooting at the Islamic Center, someone started shouting at him from the crowd.
“Our Muslim brothers and sisters have been talking to you for how long?” the person said. “You have to f*cking listen to them, Todd.”
The person, standing behind the cameras, then turned and walked away.
The mayor did not say anything back and carried on with his remarks.
Landscaper may have been shot in the helmet, police chief says
A landscaper at the second location police responded to may have been shot in the helmet, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
Law enforcement carrying out search warrants as they continue to follow any leads and information, chief says
Law enforcement is in the process of carrying out search warrants this evening and in the coming days as they continue to follow any leads and information to determine how the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego unfolded and what could have been done to prevent it, said Police Chief Scott Wahl.
“We’re all focused on figuring out how this happened and what could we have done to prevent it,” said Wahl at a news conference.
Police notified teen suspect's high school as they searched for them
As San Diego police searched for two teenagers, they learned one of them was associated with a local high school and alerted the school’s police, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
“We alerted (the) school police department and we dispatched officers into the area of Madison High School,” Wahl said.
Madison High School is about a mile from the Islamic Center, where the shooting occurred.
San Diego police chief offers condolences to Muslim community
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl began his second news conference of the day by offering his condolences to the Muslim community after three people were killed in a shooting at the county’s largest mosque this afternoon.
“Let me start off by extending heartfelt condolences to the Muslim community (and) to the families of the three that are deceased because of the horrific actions of today,” Wahl said.
Police received call about "runaway juvenile" this morning
Police first received a call about a “runaway juvenile” Monday morning, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a news conference.
The teenager’s mother reported her son was suicidal, that several of her weapons were missing, and that her son was with a “companion” dressed in camo.
“That began to trigger a larger threat assessment picture,” he said. “Our threat management unit began to take the tips and leads that we had and utilize the technology we have available to us.”
Police have previously said two teenagers, believed to be the suspects in the mosque shooting, were found dead apparently of self-inflicted injuries earlier today.
NOW: Officials give another update on the deadly mosque shooting
Officials in San Diego are now giving another update on the deadly shooting at the Islamic Center.
A few hours ago, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl and others laid out what they knew so far in the early stages of the investigation. Three people were killed in the shooting, the chief said.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is also expected to speak.
Resident witnessed shots fired, man driving away in neighborhood where landscaper was shot
Adrian Collen had just arrived back to the home he shares with his mother – five blocks south of San Diego’s largest mosque – when he heard five gunshots and ran to the door where he saw a white car with the driver’s side window broken and glass flying off, he said.
The driver, who seemed to be yelling as he drove away, looked younger, he said, adding: “I thought it was just a kid.” Collen then went outside and saw that a landscaper working at his next-door neighbors’ home was on the ground and noticed he was “bloody on the head” as he stood up, he told CNN.
It looked like the landscaper had been hit by bullets, as well as the neighbors’ home and a tree, Collen said. The shots were fired in the area around 11:48 am, said Collen, citing footage captured on his Ring camera.
The shooting took place at the same time law enforcement was responding to a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the city’s largest mosque, said Police Chief Scott Wahl. A landscaper on scene was shot at a few blocks away but was not hit, Wahl said.
“We love this area,” said Collen, who had moved into the house with his mother in October. “It’s so many families. It’s incredibly disheartening that this could happen here.”
Congressional candidate who went to mosque school says shooting is "deeply devastating"
When Ammar Campa-Najjar saw the news about a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego today, it hit close to home, he said.
Campa-Najjar attended the school at the mosque growing up, he told CNN’s Jake Tapper, learning in the classrooms like the kids today were. He said he is “deeply devastated and heartbroken” to learn that three adults were killed, according to police.
“When I heard that there was where they had gone, where the gunman had gone, I remember where those places are, what those classrooms rooms were,” he said. The director of the Islamic Center said earlier that all kids, teachers and staff are safe.
Campa-Najjar, who is running as a Democrat in a nearby California congressional district, said acts of violence like this should spur people to stand up to hate. Police said earlier investigators were considering the shooting a hate crime, for now.
“I think we have to come together and just not let the voices of division — beginning from the very top of our government on down, we have to be better than those voices,” he said.
Hate speech was scrawled on one of weapons used in shooting, law enforcement officials say
One of the suspects in today’s shooting at a San Diego mosque took a firearm from their parents’ home and left a suicide note that contained writings about racial pride, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the latest told CNN.
Additionally, hate speech was scrawled on one of the weapons that was used in the shooting, the officials said.
The specifics of the language were not immediately clear.
Scanner audio captures initial moments of police response
Scanner audio captures when authorities received initial reports of an active shooting at the Islamic Center in San Diego showing the initial rush as police searched for the whereabouts of the shooters.
As officers arrived on the scene, a voice on the scanner gave an initial assessment, reporting “multiple victims” and that the “shooters are not in custody.”
Later on, authorities can be heard asking if the shooters have been caught or taken down.
“We are working on gathering if they have the shooters in custody or if they’re down,” somebody can be heard saying.
Seconds pass before somebody requests emergency assistance for three patients.
About ten minutes later, a voice says, “We need three ambulances up to the intersection of Balboa and Eckstrom Ave,” where the mosque is located.
Police have said three adult men were killed in the attack, including a mosque security guard. Two teenage suspects were also found dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds inside a car on a nearby street.
