A Security Guard Named Amin Abdullah Saved 140 Children Before He Died. Here Is What Happened at the San Diego Mosque.

SAN DIEGO, May 22, 2026 —

Three men are dead after two teenage gunmen opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday morning — the largest mosque in San Diego County — in what investigators have confirmed was a premeditated hate crime carried out by teenagers radicalized online, armed with weapons stolen from a parent, and in possession of a manifesto that expressed hatred toward Muslims, Jewish people, LGBTQ people, Black people, women, and both major political parties.

The attack lasted minutes. One man’s actions in those minutes likely prevented a massacre.

Amin Abdullah Broadcast a Lockdown Call While He Was Being Shot

Amin Abdullah was the armed security guard on duty at the Islamic Center of San Diego when two teenage gunmen ran past him at approximately noon on Monday. He immediately recognized the threat, engaged the suspects in a gun battle outside the mosque entrance, and was struck. What he did next is what San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl described at a press conference as the act that saved the children inside.

While still being shot at, Abdullah reached for his radio and broadcast the lockdown protocol for the building. His voice over that radio, and the sound of gunfire outside, sent everyone in the main areas of the mosque into hiding. At the time, as many as 140 children were inside the facility — the lower campus of Bright Horizon Academy, a pre-K to 12th grade school that operates within the Islamic Center. Those children were, in the police chief’s words, within fifteen feet of the suspects when the shooting began.

The lockdown worked. The two gunmen entered the building after killing Abdullah and moved room to room inside. They did not find anyone. They eventually looked out a window, one pointing outside, then ran toward an exit — where they encountered two more victims in the parking lot.

Mansour Kaziha, 78, a caretaker who had worked at the mosque since it opened in the 1980s, and Nadir Awad, 57, a teacher at the school, were killed in the parking lot. Investigators said both men confronted the shooters to draw their attention away from the mosque, knowing what it might cost them. The suspects cornered both men. Neither was able to flee.

The two teenage gunmen died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds at the scene.

Who the Suspects Were — and the Warning That Went Unheeded

Both suspects were teenagers from the San Diego area. One was 17 years old. The other has not been publicly identified beyond his age. The 17-year-old suspect’s mother had called police approximately two hours before the shooting to report a runaway juvenile. She also told officers that several of her weapons and her vehicle were missing. Police took the call. A note had been left behind, the contents of which authorities have not yet publicly released.

In 2025, the Chula Vista Police Department had spoken with one of the suspects after a person who knew him expressed concern about his apparent interest in extremist ideology and mass-casualty attacks. That contact produced no further action.

The FBI confirmed at a press conference that both suspects were radicalized online. Investigators recovered a manifesto that described the suspects’ vision of how the world should be organized, containing hateful rhetoric directed at Muslims, Jewish people, LGBTQ people, Black people, women, and both the political left and right. Anti-Islamic writings were also found in the vehicle. The FBI confirmed the manifesto’s authenticity and said the attack is being investigated as a hate crime. Law enforcement executed three search warrants at residences associated with the suspects and seized more than 30 weapons, including pistols, rifles, shotguns, and a crossbow.

Three Victims, One Hero’s Daughter, and a Community That Had Prepared for the Worst

The Islamic Center of San Diego knew the threat was real. The center had received hate mail and threats over the years and had responded by installing perimeter fencing, armed security guards, and surveillance cameras covering every angle of the property inside and out. The director of the center said they never expected an attack like this one.

Amin Abdullah’s daughter spoke at a press conference flanked by her family. Through tears, she described her father as a loving father, husband, son, brother and uncle who had been all about education and had dreamed more for his children. She called him a hero. The police chief and the FBI’s special agent in charge both used the same word.

Mansour Kaziha’s colleagues at the mosque described him as a constant presence — a man known as Abu Ezz who had been part of the center’s daily life since the building was constructed in 1989. Nadir Awad lived across the street from the Islamic Center and was, by every account from people who knew him, exactly the kind of person who would step between danger and other people.

The New York City Police Department deployed additional officers to mosques across the city in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. President Trump and Governor Gavin Newsom were both briefed. The FBI’s San Diego field office is leading the federal hate crime investigation.

The security guard who saved 140 children did not survive to see them leave safely. The teacher and the caretaker who tried to draw the killers away from the building did not survive either. What three men gave on a Monday morning in San Diego is the kind of thing that gets called heroism afterward and is simply called a decision in the moment — a decision made in seconds, without the luxury of knowing how the story would end.