Police say two suspects attacked a San Diego, California, area mosque Monday, killing three people before they apparently committed suicide.
Local police responded to the scene of a reported active shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Clairemont, Fox 5 San Diego reported. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria confirmed the threat was neutralized in a post on X, thanking police, fire and “law enforcement partners” who responded to the incident.
The threat at the Islamic center has been neutralized.
Media staging has been established as the Northwest Corner of Lindbergh Park.
(4141 Ashford Street, SD, Ca, 92111)#SDPDPIO
— San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) May 18, 2026
“The threat at the Islamic center has been neutralized. Media staging has been established as the Northwest Corner of Lindbergh Park. (4141 Ashford Street, SD, Ca, 92111),” the San Diego Police Department posted at 4:06 p.m. Eastern time.
Video from NBC San Diego posted on social media showed what appeared to be one body lying in a pool of blood outside the mosque. Law enforcement sources said two suspects were dead, according to NBC San Diego.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl confirmed during a press conference that one of the victims was a security guard, later identified as Amin Abdullah, who “played a pivotal role in assisting.”
“We do believe the security guard was able to help at least minimize the situation to the front area of the mosque,” Wahl told reporters.
“At this point, I think it’s fair to say his actions were heroic,” Wahl added. “Undoubtedly, he saved lives today.”
In a later briefing, Wahl said that the mother of one of the two suspects in the attack, who were identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez, called to report her son as a runaway and suicidal before later reporting that some weapons and her car were missing and that her son was with another person and had dressed in a camoflauge outfit.
“That is not consistent with what we would typically see from somebody that is suicidal,” Wahl said during the late afternoon briefing, later adding that the new information “began to trigger a larger threat assessment picture.”
Clark and Vazquez were later found dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a car several blocks away from the mosque.
Earlier Monday afternoon, the director of the mosque, the largest in San Diego County, posted a video on Facebook giving an update on the situation.
“We are safe. The entire school is safe. All the kids, all the staff, and the teachers are safe out of the Islamic Center,” Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego said in the video posted to Facebook. “We have a few casualties, not confirmed yet. There is no threat at this moment, but we want everyone to stay away from the Islamic Center of San Diego.”
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