Three men have been killed following a shooting at a mosque (Image: GB News)
GB News was interrupted as the programme cut to footage of a press conference about a fatal shooting. Two teenagers fatally shot three men at a mosque in San Diego, California, in what authorities believe was a suspected hate crime. The incident took place on Monday (May 18) as police were investigating a call about a possibly suicidal teen who had run away from home.
At least three people were killed in the shooting, while the two attackers were found d3ad with self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Speaking live from a press conference in San Diego, the city’s Chief of Police Scott Wahl delivered an update on the suspects of the “hate crime”. He said: “This is a community’s absolute worst nightmare. We received a call of a runaway juvenile.”
Wahl explained they spoke to the mother of the runaway teenager and said the information she gave them “elevated the threat level”.
He continued: “She believed her son was suicidal and she began to share information that several of her weapons were missing. Her vehicle was missing, in addition to her son. She also said her son was with a companion and that they were dressed in camo.
“That is not consistent with what we would typically see from someone who is suicidal. That began to trigger a larger threat assessment picture.”
After working on the leads they had, the police located the vehicle the teens were using and sent dispatchers to Fashion Valley Mall.
Authorities discovered one of the teenagers had a link to Madison High School, so they also sent officers to that location.
Wahl went on: “While we were gathering this information, we received a call that there was an active shooter at the Islamic centre. Officers immediately dispatched themselves to the mosque.
“When officers arrived on scene, they came across three deceased victims. One was a security guard at the centre.
San Diego’s Chief of Police Scott Wahl held a press conference about the incident (Image: GB News)
“Because of what the officers were encountering and because we know this is a large gathering facility with kids, adults, and community members from throughout our county, officers immediately began to enter the facility, utilising our active shooter protocol, looking for a suspect or two.”
He revealed that while officers were searching the facility, they received another call about a vehicle a couple of blocks away that was shooting at a landscaper.
Wahl added, “The landscaper is going to be OK, but we are still investigating that scene. It appears he may have been shot in the helmet that deflected and saved his life, but that is not confirmed at this point.
“A couple of blocks away from there, we also received a call where a community member reported our two suspects in a vehicle, and it appeared they had gunshot wounds. Upon our arrival, we determined they were deceased.”
He explained that the police department will continue to follow leads and any further information they discover.
“We’re all focused on figuring out how this happened and what we could have done to prevent it,” he said.
