Newsman: Officials haven’t come out with a motive, but Wahl said that because the shooting took place at the Islamic Center, they are considering this a hate crime until they can show otherwise. The FBI says they are investigating the shooting too. At an early evening news conference, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said around 9:42 a.m. police got a call from the mother of a runaway minor who said she believed her son was suicidal. She reported that her vehicle and weapons were missing and that her son was with a companion — both dressed in camo.
Wahl said police started dispatching officers to locations they thought might be threatened. While they were trying to zero in on where the teenagers were, they got reports of a shooting at 11:43 a.m. at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
During a press conference shortly following a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Clairemont, Police Chief Scott Wahl confirmed five people have died.
Wahl said police responded to a call from the center shortly after 11:40 a.m. and found three people dead, including the center’s guard. They also found two teenagers, who they think were the shooters, dead in a car. Police believe they died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. They were 17 and 18 years old.
“This is every community’s worst nightmare. … Our hearts go out to the families that are in this moment being notified of what has happened to their loved ones,” Wahl said during a mid-afternoon briefing,” said San Diego Police Department Chief Scott Wahl.
Officials haven’t come out with a motive, but Wahl said that because the shooting took place at the Islamic Center, they are considering this a hate crime until they can show otherwise. The FBI says they are investigating the shooting too.
Wahl also said in 28 years, this is the most dynamic and impressive response he’s seen in policing with help coming from agencies all over the county.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria was also present at the news conference. He said his prayers are with the local Muslim community.
“We will do anything it takes to make sure you feel safe in this city,” Gloria said.
Not long after the second shooting was reported, officers were called to yet another nearby location. There, in the 3800 block of Hatton Street, a vehicle was stopped in the roadway, and inside it were the bodies of the suspected perpetrators of the shooting spree — an 18-year-old man and 17-year- old boy. They are believed to have died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, Wahl told news crews.
The case was being investigated as a suspected hate crime, the police chief noted. The names of the victims and suspects were withheld pending completion of family notification.
In the late afternoon, police reported that one of the suspects had been reported as a runaway about two hours before the mosque shooting occurred.
“SDPD pieced together bits of information from the juvenile’s mother,” a department statement asserted. “She believed her son was suicidal and shared information that several of her weapons were missing, along with her vehicle.
She also stated that he was with a companion, who was dressed in camouflage.”
Via automated license-plate-reading camera technology, authorities learned that the woman’s vehicle had been in Mission Valley, near Fashion Valley mall during the morning, but officers dispatched to that area did not locate the car or the suspects there.
A reunification location for those impacted by the incident was established at 4125 Hathaway Street.
In a statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations-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.”
