Security guard killed fending off San Diego shooters hailed as a hero
Al Jazeera
Amin Abdullah, a security guard at the Islamic Center of San Diego, was fatally shot while trying to stop two teenage gunmen from entering the mosque complex on May 18. Police say his actions saved lives and call him a hero. The attack, which left three dead, is being investigated as a hate crime.
A security guard at the Islamic Center in San Diego, California, is being hailed as a 'hero' after he was killed trying to stop shooters from entering the mosque complex. U.S. authorities say the guard played a 'pivotal role' in preventing the attack from becoming 'much worse.' 'It is fair to call his actions heroic,' San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a press conference. 'He certainly saved lives today.'
At the time of the shooting, children were attending classes at a private school inside the complex, according to ABC News. The attack occurred around 11:43 a.m. on May 18 (18:43 GMT) in the 7000 block of Eckstrom Avenue. Police arrived about four minutes later. The two teenage suspects, ages 17 and 18, killed themselves a few blocks away.
A family friend confirmed Abdullah was a familiar face at the mosque, having worked as a security guard there for over a decade. 'He wanted to protect the innocent, so he decided to become a security guard,' said Sheikh Uthman Ibn Farooq, who spoke with Abdullah's son. Local media reported Abdullah was a father of eight.
On his Facebook page, Abdullah often posted reflections on Islam and videos of himself practicing archery. His last post on May 13 was a video of a hawk perched on the mosque’s minaret, captioned: 'Hawk on the minaret again. Allahu Akbar.' On May 5, he wrote: 'For me, success is not financial stability, a good reputation, or beauty. It is returning to Allah, our Creator, with the same pure soul He lent me at birth.'
Chief Wahl said there was no specific threat to the Islamic Center of San Diego, but investigators found evidence the suspects used 'generalized hate speech.' He declined to provide further details but said the 'circumstances leading up to this incident' would be clarified in the coming days. Before the attack, police were searching for one of the teens after his mother called to report that her son had suicidal intentions and had left home with a weapon and a missing car.
The Islamic Center of San Diego is the largest mosque in San Diego County, housing Al Rashid School, which teaches Arabic, Islamic studies, and the Quran to students aged 5 and up. Television images showed more than a dozen children holding hands as they were led away from the center’s parking lot while the site was surrounded by dozens of police vehicles.
Imam Taha Hassane, the mosque’s director, called the attack 'extremely outrageous' for targeting a house of worship. 'All places of worship in our beautiful city must always be protected,' he said. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organizations in the U.S., condemned the shooting. The group said 'anti-Muslim hatred is completely out of control' and criticized several politicians for using hateful rhetoric over the past year. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani also expressed horror and said the NYPD had increased deployments to mosques across the city. U.S. President Donald Trump called the shooting a 'terrible situation.'
