A total of five people — including two teenage gunmen who inscribed anti-Muslim hate messages on their weapons — are dead after a shooting at a San Diego mosque.
Officers responded to the Islamic Center of San Diego for a report of an active shooter around 11:43 a.m. Monday.
Outside the center were three adult men dead from gunshot wounds, according to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl, who spoke to the media after the shooting.
A gas container with an ”SS” sticker outside the gunman’s car. Anadolu via Getty Images
A woman cries at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. AP Photo/Gregory Bull
A body is covered with a tarp at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026. What appears to be ammunition, possibly a shotgun shell, is visible near the body. AP Photo/Gregory Bull“All of our kids are safe. Our hearts go out to the families who, in this moment, are being notified of what has happened to their loved ones,” Wahl said.
Officers were on scene just four minutes after the initial call came in, according to Wahl.
While clearing the inside of the mosque, another person called 911 to report gunshots only a few blocks away. A man doing landscaping work claimed he had been shot at from a passing vehicle, though the bullets missed, Wahl said.
Only a short distance away from where the landscaper had been shot at, officers located a white BMW stopped in the middle of the roadway with two suspects dead from what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds, according to Wahl.
Members of the Muslim community use their phones at the scene of a reported active shooter situation at the Islamic Center, with yellow tape placed behind them to cordon off the area, in San Diego, on May 18, 2026. REUTERS
Police stage outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026. Denis Poroy for CA Post
Parents wait for their children to be released from a pre-school next to the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026. Denis Poroy for CA PostThe suspects were 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Velasquez, a law enforcement source told The Post. Clark was a wrestler at Madison High School.
Anti-Islamic writings were found inside the BMW, and at least one suspect took a firearm from his parents’ home, leaving a suicide note behind that included writing about racial pride, a law enforcement source told The Post.
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Hate speech was also written on one of the firearms used, the source said. A photo captured from the scene where the suspects were located showed one of their bodies on the ground and a shotgun next to the vehicle. There was also a gas can with an “SS” sticker on the side.
It appears the “SS” may have represented the Schutzstaffel, the paramilitary organization led by Heinrich Himmler under the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler.
Cain Clark is one of the deceased suspects. Instagram/madison.warhawk.wrestling
People stand behind police tape at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. AP Photo/Gregory Bull
A body is covered with a tarp at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, May 18, 2026. AP Photo/Gregory BullPolice revealed that around 9:42 a.m., they had received a call of a runaway juvenile from a concerned mother. After speaking with the mom, police began to elevate the level of threat the individual posed to the community.
The mom allegedly believed her son was suicidal and shared that several of her weapons were missing, as was her vehicle, according to police. The mom also said her son was with a companion and that they were dressed in camo.
A woman sobs and watches from a distance at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026. AP Photo/Gregory Bull
Women embrace at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026. AP Photo/Gregory Bull
People walk under police tape at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday. AP Photo/Gregory BullTimeline of the San Diego shooting:
- 11:43 a.m. — SDPD receives reports of an active shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego on the 7000 block of Eckstrom Avenue in Clairemont.
- 11:47 a.m. — Officers arrive to find three adults dead outside the center, including security guard Amin Abdullah. They immediately enter the building and adjacent school to hunt for the shooter.
- 11:52 a.m. — Two blocks away on the 7100 block of Salerno Street, new calls come in: A landscaper has been shot at. He survived.
- Minutes later — Officers are called to the 3800 block of Hatton Street, where they find a white BMW stopped in the street with what appear to be the suspects inside, a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old — both dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
- 1:06 p.m. — “The threat at the Islamic center has been neutralized,” SDPD wrote on X at 1:06 p.m.
The police would not clarify whether the missing person was involved in the shooting, though most of the details line up with what The Post was told.
Police officers leading a line of children away from the Islamic Center during an active shooter event. KGTV
Police responding to a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, with a body on the ground. NBC
The heavily armed police presence at the Islamic Center of San Diego. KGTV/ABC 10 News
An armed man seen from above at the Islamic Center of San Diego. ABC 10 NewsOne of the victims was a mosque security guard who “played a pivotal role in assisting, this could have been worse,” said Wahl at the press conference.
No children were physically injured, and the FBI is assisting in the investigation.
Footage from the scene taken by a helicopter showed one person in a tactical vest, presumably the security guard who was killed, lying face up outside the Islamic Center.
The other two victims, who have not been identified, were seen getting CPR from first responders near the scene of the shooting.
Emergency workers respond at the scene of a reported active shooter situation at the Islamic Center in San Diego, May 18, 2026. REUTERS
Parents wait for their children to be released from a pre-school next to the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026. Denis Poroy for CA Post“Today, our city was shaken by a violent act at the Islamic Center of San Diego and my heart is with every person touched by this tragedy. No one in our city should ever have to fear for their safety in a house of faith and a place of learning,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said Monday night.
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“I am grateful to the San Diego Police Department, our Fire-rescue personnel, and every first responder who moved toward danger to bring this threat to an end,” he added.
Wahl called the police response “the most dynamic and impressive response I have ever seen in policing” in his 28 years of law enforcement work.
