Highlights:
Two teenagers left Nazi stickers and hate messages on their weapons before carrying out a deadly shooting at a mosque in California that killed three people.
The suspects were later found dead inside a vehicle near the Islamic Centre of San Diego. Police said they died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. The attackers were identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez, according to CBS News.
During the attack, dozens of children inside an Islamic day school at the complex hid in a cupboard while gunshots rang out around them.
Police found a shotgun and a petrol can with “SS” stickers at the scene. The markings appeared to refer to the Schutzstaffel, the Nazi paramilitary organization led by Heinrich Himmler during Nazi Germany.
CNN reported that one of the attackers had written hate speech messages on the gun used in the shooting.
Investigators said the firearm had been taken from the suspects’ parents’ home. Police also found a suicide note there. According to law enforcement officials, the note contained writings about racial pride.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said there was no direct threat made against the Islamic Centre in the writings.
“It was just general hate kind of speech that I think covered a wide gamut,” he confirmed.
US President Donald Trump said he had been briefed about the incident.
The president said: “I’ve been given some early updates, but we’re going to be going back and looking at it very strongly.”
Cain Clark attended Madison High School in the local area and was a wrestler on the school team. His grandfather, David Clark, 78, said: “We’re very sorry for what happened. We know as much as you do. It’s a shock.”
Family and friends identified the security guard who tried to protect people during the attack as Amin Abdullah.
Chief Wahl praised Abdullah’s actions and called them “heroic.” He added: “Undoubtedly, he saved lives today.”
Amin Abdullah was shot and killed during the attack.
Earlier on Monday morning, the mother of one of the suspects called police and reported her son as a “runaway juvenile.”
She warned officers that her son was suicidal, that several guns were missing from her home, and that he was traveling with another person dressed in camouflage clothing.
Police received reports of an active shooter at the Islamic center, the largest in the county, at 11.43 a.m. local time. Officers arrived at the scene within four minutes.
Although the gunmen never entered the building, children inside later said they heard as many as 16 shots before they were rushed into a closet for safety.
Chief Wahl said officers immediately found what “appeared to be three deceased victims out in front” of the building.
Between 50 and 100 police officers entered the complex and secured the area.
Police also received emergency calls about gunfire from nearby streets.
Investigators later learned that a landscaper working at a home on Salerno Street, about an eight-minute walk from the mosque, had also been shot at. Police said he was not injured.
After reaching the area, officers found the two suspects dead inside what was believed to be a 2018 BMW X1 SUV parked in the middle of the street.
Chief Wahl told reporters: “There were no officers involved in firing their weapons.”
Members of the Muslim community gathered outside the mosque and comforted each other after learning about the attack.
The Islamic Centre of San Diego released a statement saying members were “heartbroken by the tragic shooting.” The center also thanked emergency workers and staff members who “helped protect lives during an unimaginable situation.”
“Places of worship are meant to be spaces of peace, prayer, reflection, and community,” the statement said. “Violence and hatred have no place in our society.”
Earlier that same day, a group of non-Muslim visitors had been touring the mosque to learn more about Islam and interfaith relations.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said: “Hate has no home in San Diego, Islamophobia has no home in San Diego.”
He also said: “I want to assure our Muslim community that we will do everything it takes to make sure that you can feel safe in this city, and no resource will be spared in making sure that our religious institutions and locations are protected in this sensitive time.”
During the press conference, one community member shouted at the mayor from behind the cameras: “Our Muslim brothers and sisters have been talking to you for how long? You have to f---ing listen to them, Todd.”
The FBI said it was “meticulously assessing the situation”.
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