At an Islamic center in San Diego, California, two teenagers opened fire and killed three people, then the suspects took their own lives.
According to the AP and CNN on the 18th, a shooting at a large mosque in Clairemont, San Diego County, left five people dead, including a security guard and the suspects.
The mosque is in a residential area 14 kilometers north of downtown San Diego and is the largest place of worship in San Diego County.
The two teenagers who carried out the attack were found dead in a car parked in the middle of a nearby road. U.S. outlets reported the suspects as 17-year-old Kane Clark and 19-year-old Celeb Vazquez, adding that Clark was a female high school student who competed in wrestling.
The exact motive has not yet been determined. However, CNN, citing multiple sources, said one of the suspected shooters left a manifesto asserting racial superiority. The New York Post reported that at the scene where the suspects' bodies were found, a gas can with an "SS" sticker referring to the Nazi Schutzstaffel was discovered along with firearms.
Clark's mother reported to police before the incident that her child left home with three guns and her vehicle. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the suspect's mother thought the child intended to take their own life. But Wahl said, "It would not make sense for a person intent on suicide to take three guns to one location," adding that because of the troubling circumstances, police conducted a broad threat assessment to locate the suspect before the incident.
Chief Wahl paid tribute to the actions of the security guard, one of the victims. He said the guard who died was at the front of the mosque and added, "At this point, it is fair to say that his actions were heroic and clearly saved many lives today."
The New York Times, citing data from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), analyzed that the incident occurred amid a rise in Islamophobia in the United States. CAIR received 8,683 complaints related to civil rights violations last year, the highest number since 1996.
After the incident, voices condemning hate crimes spread across the United States. New York City's first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said, "Islamophobia is threatening the American Muslim community," and added, "We must confront it head-on and stand together against the politics of fear and division."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, "Hate has no home in California, and we will not tolerate acts of terror or intimidation against faith communities."
The mosque's leader, Imam Taha Hassan, said, "To make a place of worship the target (of an attack) is unacceptable," adding, "This is a time of sorrow, and we pray for all the families in our community."