The two teenage assailants responsible for a mass shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, rushed toward the mosque “fully armored” with handguns and rifles, authorities said.
A security guard shot and struck one of the shooters, according to members of the mosque – but the attacker continued charging. The guard – Amin Abdullah – also alerted administrators of the school at the Islamic Center, telling them to go into lockdown, before he was shot and killed. “If it was not for him … The carnage would be much worse,” said imam Taha Hassane. “He sacrificed his life.”
Two other victims – identified by the Islamic Center as Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad – had been on the phone calling the police, when they were killed. A witness shared details of what he saw transpire in an Instagram post from the Islamic Center. Police rushed to the scene and ultimately found the suspected shooters near the masjid, dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
The Islamic Center called the three victims “three heroes martyred” and have started a fundraiser for their families and for others impacted by the mass shooting.