Over 2,000 mourn three men killed in San Diego mosque attack
Theo Al Jazeera
More than 2,000 people gathered at a San Diego park to mourn three men killed while trying to stop a mosque attack. The victims were remembered as heroes for slowing down the teenage gunmen and protecting schoolchildren. The attack is being investigated as a hate crime.
More than 2,000 people gathered at a park in San Diego, California, to mourn a security guard and two other men who died trying to stop a gun attack on their city's mosque on May 19. The funeral was held Thursday (May 21), with attendees, including uniformed police officers, lining up to perform the Islamic funeral prayer, Janazah.
The bodies of the three victims – Amin Abdullah, 51, Mansour Kaziha, 78, and Nadir Awad, 57 – lay under a white cloth beneath a tree. Attendees shouted “Allahu Akbar” in Arabic and raised their hands.
Many remembered the three victims as heroes for slowing down and distracting two teenage gunmen who opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday during class. Their bodies were expected to be buried together at a nearby cemetery later in the day.
Imam Taha Hassane of the center said: “Today is a message to everyone: Our community is hurt, but our community is standing and resilient.” He noted that people flew in from across the United States to attend the funeral, some from as far as the East Coast.
One attendee broke down in tears talking about Monday's shooting, which has left Muslims across the U.S. on edge amid rising Islamophobia. “Today is really a difficult day for our whole community,” the person said, asking to remain anonymous.
The Monday attack is being investigated as a targeted assault. “We're treating this as a hate crime until we are not,” San Diego police chief Scott Wahl said immediately after the shooting. Police said the actions of the three victims may have prevented further bloodshed.
The shooting began around 11:43 a.m. Pacific Time (18:43 GMT), when Abdullah, the center’s guard, exchanged fire with the teenaged suspects. Police said he used his radio to order a lockdown of the mosque, which houses a primary school with 140 students. His actions are believed to have given children and staff time to hide in classrooms and closets.
Awad, whose wife is a teacher at the center, lived across the street. He and Kaziha, the center’s caretaker and cook, heard the gunfire and ran toward the center to help. All three died of their wounds. Police said the suspects fled the mosque in a vehicle and were later found dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Khaled Abdullah, 24, the security guard’s son, said his family drew strength from how his father died. “The fact that he was on the front line, trying to protect kids and innocent people, that makes me feel good,” Khaled told Reuters on Wednesday. “Calling him a hero is the least we could do.”
