Local police and federal agents are investigating a shooting that took place Monday at an Islamic center in San Diego that left three victims and two suspects dead.
Police were called to the Islamic Center of San Diego, which includes a mosque and K-3 school, just before noon on Monday.
Police said they found three adults dead, including a security guard. No children at the center were harmed in the shooting.
Officers were almost simultaneously called to a scene a few blocks away on reports of gunfire, according to police.
There, they found the two teen suspects, both dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Here’s what we know about the suspects so far:
A pair of teen gunmen
Police described the two suspects as males age 17 and 19.
Officials have not named the sucpects and it was not immediately clear if they were local residents or had any personal ties to the San Diego mosque police believe they attempted to attack.
Police have not described what types of weapons were used in the shooting.
After the shooting, investigators were seen outside a home in San Diego thought to belong to a relative of at least one of the individuals, NBC San Diego reports.
Multiple crime scenes
Local police and federal agents from the FBI and ATF are investigating the case, which has a crime scene spread across multiple locations.
The three victims of the shooting were discovered outside the Islamic Center, while the two suspects were found a few blocks away.
By the time police arrived at the Islamic Center, the gunmen had allegedly left. Officers got another call about shots fired at a landscaper nearby and headed to that location.
On the 3800 block of Hatton Street, police said they found the two suspects dead in their vehicle in the middle of the street.
Searching for a motive
Investigators are treating the shooting at the mosque, the largest in San Diego County, as a hate crime.
“Because of the Islamic Center location, we are considering this a hate crime until it’s not,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told reporters on Monday. “And at this point we’re going to work closely with the FBI to make sure that we are matching all the resources that we need for this investigation.”
The FBI said it is surging resources to the area and federal officials including FBI Director Kash Patel and President Donald Trump have been briefed.
Police plan to review security video from the scene of the shooting.
“The FBI is meticulously assessing the situation and is prepared to employ every resource we have to uncover the facts of this incident,” San Diego-based FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily told reporters on Monday. “No community should have to go through such a tragic incident, but we will work tirelessly until we learn the truth.”
A slain security guard who stopped a tragedy
Police have said little so far about the victims of Monday’s shooting, beside the fact that they were all adults.
Officials credited one of the victims, a security guard, with stopping more deaths from taking place inside the center.
“One of the deceased is a security guard that works there and I think played a pivotal role in assisting from this being much worse,” Chief Wahl said.
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