Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
New information has emerged about a 911 call placed by a suspect’s mother roughly two hours before the fatal shooting at a San Diego mosque on Monday (May 18), which left three people dead.
Authorities said they were already searching for two suspects earlier that morning when officers were dispatched to reports of gunfire at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
According to police, one suspect’s mother contacted emergency services at about 9:42 a.m. She told officers she feared her son may be suicidal and said he had run off with another person wearing camouflage, taking her car and multiple weapons.
Speaking at a press conference, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl explained that the situation did not fit what officers typically see in cases involving people intent on taking their own lives, which “began to elevate the threat level”.
Wahl said police were still in contact with the mother when the shooting at the mosque was reported at around 11:43 a.m.
When officers arrived at the Islamic center — which includes a mosque and a K-3 school — they discovered three adults had been killed, one of them a security guard.
Police were then directed to a second location only a few blocks away.
At that nearby scene, officers found the two teenage suspects dead from what investigators described as apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Authorities also recovered the firearm believed to have been used in the attack, along with a gas canister bearing a Nazi symbol.
Investigators are currently handling the case as a hate crime, describing the shooting as the largest in San Diego County history.
Chief Wahl said: “Because of the Islamic Center location, we are considering this a hate crime until it’s not.
“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.”
He said police had not identified any specific threats directed at the mosque before Monday’s attack, but added there were indications the suspects had expressed “generalized hate rhetoric”.
CNN reported that one suspect left a suicide note that cited ‘racial pride’.
Officials said children were attending classes at the Al Rashid school at the time of the attack, though no students or teachers were injured.
San Diego-based FBI Special Agent Mark Remily told reporters: “No community should have to go through such a tragic incident, but we will work tirelessly until we learn the truth.”
He added: “The FBI is meticulously assessing the situation and is prepared to employ every resource we have to uncover the facts of this incident.”