Security guard died after saving lives in shooting at San Diego mosque

Amin Abdullah, a security guard at a San Diego mosque, United States, is being remembered as a hero for saving many lives during a deadly shooting incident on Monday, May 18.

Police said the guard played a crucial role in protecting people during the attack at the mosque and school campus.

‘Guard’s actions were heroic’, says San Diego police chief

San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the security guard helped contain the situation near the front area of the mosque. He added that the guard’s actions were heroic and helped save lives.

Police said officers arrived at the Islamic Center within four minutes after emergency calls were received.

During the operation, officers entered the mosque complex and searched classrooms, prayer halls, and nearby buildings.

Open fire at San Diego mosque

As per the police, two teenage shooters opened fire at a San Diego mosque and killed three men before killing themselves.

The attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego is being investigated as a hate crime, Wahl said at a news conference at a neighbourhood park across from the mosque.

He said the “circumstances that led up to this” would come out in the days ahead.

The center is the largest mosque in San Diego County and includes the Al Rashid School, which offers courses in the Arabic language, Islamic studies, and the Quran for students aged 5 and above, according to its website.

“All of the kids are safe,” Wahl said, appearing emotional. “Our hearts go out to the families that are in this moment being notified of what has happened to their loved ones.”

Aerial TV footage showed more than a dozen children holding hands and being walked out of the parking lot of the center as it was surrounded by scores of police vehicles. The white mosque is in a neighbourhood of homes, apartments, and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets.

The mosque’s director, Imam Taha Hassane, called it “extremely outrageous to target a place of worship.”