OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
3:24 PM – Tuesday, May 19, 2026
The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) promised to have a more “visible presence” at houses of worship while providing updates after two teenage gunmen killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego, before turning their weapons on themselves.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said in a news conference on Tuesday that law enforcement was working to have a “visible presence at places of worship throughout our county.”
He made it clear that the victims’ names would not be identified during the conference.
“Law enforcement is banding together to make sure that there is a feeling of being safe at every place of worship,” he said.
He explained how the security guard, Amin Abdullah, saved the lives of more than 100 children before he was fatally shot.
The perpetrators of the crime ran past the guard, who “immediately observed the threat” and “began to engage them in gunfire.” The guard ordered a lockdown protocol for the building and “continued to engage in a gun battle” with the two suspects.
“His actions without a doubt delayed, distracted, and ultimately deterred these two individuals from gaining access to the greater areas of the mosque where as many as 140 kids were within 15 feet of the suspects,” Wahl stated. “Tragically, he died in the gun battle.”
As far as authorities could tell, the other two victims drew the attention of both suspects into the parking lot area, where they were cornered by the suspects and killed, the police chief said.
Wahl explained that the “massive response” from nearby police “undoubtedly” pushed the suspects to “run back to their vehicle and flee the parking lot.”
“I want to be very clear: All three of the victims did not die in vain,” Wahl proclaimed. “Without distracting the attention, without delaying the actions of these two individuals, without question, there would have been many more fatalities.”
Imam Taha Hassane, the director of the Islamic Center of San Diego, came to the podium to give remarks about the three victims, whom he called “brothers.”
“We call them our martyrs and our heroes,” he said.
Hassane described Abdullah as a “lovely person.”
“He never, never stopped smiling to anyone: our community members as well as our visitors,” said Hassane. “If it was not for him, as [the] chief mentioned, the carnage would be much worse.”
“We’re so proud of him,” Hassane declared, emphasizing that without his response, the gunmen would have had access to the center’s many classrooms. “I envy him when I see messages about him, literally from all over the world, talking about his heroism.”
The director identified the second victim as Mansour Kaziha, who was the first to call 9-1-1.
“He is the pillar of the Islamic Center of San Diego,” Hassane said of Kaziha. “Has been since 1986. When the community started breaking the ground of the Islamic Center, he was there.”
Hassane added that in his last two decades of working as Imam of the center, he had “never done anything without him.”
“He was the handyman, he was the cook, he was the caretaker, he was the storekeeper, he was everything,” the religious leader remarked. “I don’t know what I’m going to do at the Islamic Center without … his daily assistance.”
He identified the third victim as Nadir Awad, who lived across the street and was at the center every day, where his wife taught classes.
“When he heard the shooting, he rushed to do something,” Hassane recounted. “To protect.”
Hassane said he was at the scene during the incident and he “heard everything” from upstairs until law enforcement escorted everyone out of the building.
“We have never, ever expected such [a] thing to happen at the Islamic Center of San Diego,” the imam continued. “I mean, we are used to receiving hate mails, hate messages, people driving by and cursing and all that stuff, but such horrible crime we have never expected.”
He added that the center had armed guards and security cameras inside and outside the building to prevent such crimes.
Mark Remily, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Diego Special Agent in Charge, said that Law enforcement seized more than 30 guns, including pistols, rifles and shotguns, as well as a crossbow, while executing three search warrants at residences associated with the suspects. Tactical gear and ammunition were also seized.
“We also identified writings and various ideologies outlining religious and racial beliefs of how the world they envisioned should look. These subjects did not discriminate on who they hated,” Remily remarked.
He described the suspected shooters as “teenagers who appeared to have been radicalized online.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria (D-Calif.) said that the two individuals who carried out the crime do not represent the city, but that the “three Muslim men” did.
“To my fellow San Diegans, this is a time to come together. This pain is unimaginable,” he said. “And for many of our community, specifically our Muslim brothers and sisters, they need our care, our comfort, our concern and our support.”
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