The FBI reported this Tuesday that the two teenagers, ages 17 and 18, who carried out the crime met online before heading to the largest mosque in Southern California, where they murdered three people before taking their own lives. The federal agency said that, motivated by racial hatred, these young people sought to kill “many people” in a facility where there were 140 children.
“What we believe is that they met online and that in the course of that electronic communication they discovered that they both lived in the San Diego area, and they became friends, associates and at one point had in-person contact. But in terms of how their radicalization happened, we still don’t know,” Mark Remily, head of the FBI’s San Diego office, said at a news conference.
More than 30 handguns, rifles and shotguns have been seized by law enforcement while executing three search warrants at residences associated with the suspects. Tactical equipment, ammunition and electronic devices were also seized.
After reviewing security videos from the mosque, San Diego Police reconstructed chronologically how the attack occurred. Shortly before noon on Monday, the teenagers arrived at the scene and engaged in a gunfight with the security guard, who tried to prevent their passage and activated the emergency protocol. The man was hit by gunfire and died at the entrance to the Islamic center. By then, those inside had already taken shelter. “They moved from one room to another. The security videos show that they went to areas where, fortunately, there was no one,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said in a conference.
One of the young men saw two people walking through the parking lot through a window and both went out to kill them. Shortly after, upon hearing the sirens of the patrol cars, they fled the scene in a vehicle and, a few blocks later, took their own lives. “I think that saved the 140 children that were inside,” Wahl said, referring to the school that is part of the Islamic complex.
“The lives of the children and everyone who was at the school are safe and I am grateful for that,” said Taha Hassan, imam of the Islamic Center of San Diego. Classes will be suspended for the next two weeks. “We are devastated,” Hassan said.
Hours before the shooting, on Monday morning, the mother of one of the gunmen called police to warn that she feared that her son, whom she described as a suicidal teenager, had taken three of her guns and her car, perhaps to carry out a massacre. He saw him accompanied by another young man, both dressed in camouflage clothing. As I suspected, they were on their way to commit a massacre. On the way they randomly shot a gardener. The bullet hit his helmet, but the man survived. As the FBI has confirmed, the weapons used in the shooting belonged to the mother of one of the attackers, who called 911.
Authorities are investigating the case as a possible hate crime. Detectives found racist messages on one of the weapons and a suicide note with references to “racial pride.” The FBI indicates that it continues analyzing the text, in order to prevent future attacks. “They covered a broad spectrum on racism and religion,” Remily said.
For now, the authorities assure that there was no specific threat against the Islamic Center. “We are analyzing all the evidence, looking at all the electronic devices that will give us answers. But what I can say is that they were definitely trying to attack many people,” Remily said.
The social networks of both adolescents have become a key piece of the investigation. The FBI said it continues to seek evidence of possible ideological radicalization expressed in his posts, as well as details about “what his plans were in their entirety.”
The “martyr” of the mosque
Amin Abdullah, the mosque’s security guard, died trying to stop the two armed teenagers and, according to authorities, prevented an even greater tragedy. “Their actions were heroic,” said Police Chief Wahl during a press conference. “Without a doubt,” he added, “it saved lives.” Abdullah and two worshipers of the mosque are among the victims of the shooting at the religious center, which also houses a school attended by dozens of children.
At 11:41 in the morning (local time, nine more in mainland Spain), the gunmen arrived at the mosque and opened fire. Abdullah was the main protection of the compound. “He stood between the armed men and all the people who were inside. That same afternoon, the police safely evacuated the teachers, staff and more than a dozen children from that building, leading them by the hand. They are alive thanks to Amin doing his duty. He paid for that act with his own life,” says a published fundraising campaign, which as of Tuesday had raised more than $1.6 million to cover funeral expenses and financially support his family.
Organizers of the drive, including the Islamic Center and the San Diego affiliate of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), describe him as a “martyr” and a brave man. “He didn’t run away. He stood firm at his post… He wasn’t just a guard, he was the one who welcomed anyone who crossed the door and the last line of defense at the time when it mattered most,” the LaunchGood account reads.
Abdullah left a widow and eight orphans. He was the main financial supporter of his family. Part of the funds raised, the organizers explained, will be used to cover immediate needs (food, rent for their home and public services), but also to pay for their children’s education and to give them “long-term financial stability.”
Those who knew him remember a large, affable man who greeted everyone at the entrance to the mosque. “He was loved by everyone. He was there day after day, always smiling, welcoming everyone, welcoming the children who came to school,” Tazheen Nizam, spokesperson for the San Diego CAIR, told the BBC. “It was a shining light.”
In the photographs published on LaunchGood, he appears with his security equipment: guns, cartridges, body camera, pepper spray and bulletproof vests with the legend “armed security guard.” He had been protecting the Islamic center of San Diego for more than a decade. “He wanted to defend the innocent, so he decided to become a security guard,” Sheikh Uthman Ibn Farooq told the AP agency.
The other two victims have been identified as Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad, both followers of said religious center. Kaziha helped maintain the facilities and at the compound’s convenience store, while Awad’s wife taught classes at the school located within the complex.
