Three people were killed in a mass shooting carried out by two gunmen at the Islamic Centre of San Diego in California on Monday, police said.
The two shooters, believed to be aged 17 and 19 and wearing camouflage gear, were killed by “self-inflicted gunshot wounds”, San Diego Police chief Scott Wahl said.
The police said the bodies of the victims', one of whom had worked as a security guard, were found outside the Islamic centre.
The mother of one of the suspects called the police about two hours before the shooting, saying her suicidal son was missing, and that several firearms were missing from their home. She also found a note with what Mr Wahl described as “hate rhetoric”.
He added that the FBI was assisting with the case, which would be treated “as a hate crime until it's not”.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria first reported that he had been told of an “active shooter situation” at the mosque in the Clairemont community. “Hate has no place in San Diego,” he later told reporters.
Imam Taha Hassane offered his condolences to the families of those killed. “It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship. Our Islamic centre is a place of worship,” he said.
Footage showed dozens of police cars on a bridge next to the Islamic centre, with officers and their vehicles surrounding the grounds, aiming rifles at the mosque.
US President Donald Trump described the shooting as a “terrible situation”.
“I've been given some early updates, but we're going to be going back and looking at it very strongly,” he told reporters.
The Islamic Centre in Clairemont is the largest mosque in San Diego County and houses the Bright Horizon Academy, a school providing Islamic education, according to its website.
