Officials have identified the three people killed in Monday’s shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Clairemont Mesa.
Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad were killed Monday morning while protecting people inside the center from two gunmen, law enforcement officials outlined Tuesday.
Amin Abdullah — a husband and father described by as a familiar and beloved fixture at the mosque’s doors — was working as a security guard when the suspected shooters ran past him seemingly without noticing him, SDPD Chief Scott Wahl said at a Tuesday press conference.
Recognizing the threat, Abdullah “began to engage them with gunfire.” Video shows he then reached for his radio to initiate a lockdown and then “continued to engage in a gun battle with those two suspects,” Wahl said.
“His actions without a doubt delayed, distracted and ultimately deterred these two individuals from gaining access to the greater areas of the mosque where as many of 140 kids were within 15 feet of these suspects,” Wahl said. “Tragically, he died in that gun battle.”
Abdullah “risked his own life to alert the school and other individuals inside regarding the active shooter,” said a statement from the San Diego chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Mosque officials called him a “beloved security guard, who gave his life protecting the children and community members of our masjid,” and “a courageous man who put himself on the line for the safety of others, who even in his last moments did not stop protecting our community.”
A fundraiser for Abdullah’s family had already raised over $2 million by Tuesday afternoon.
After the gunfight with Abdullah, the suspected shooters re-entered the mosque. By then, the rooms they accessed were empty.
“The sound of the gunfire, all of the delay in that gun battle allowed everybody to get out of the main common areas of the mosque and into areas of hiding, so when they began to go through areas of the mosque they were not running into more victims,” Wahl said at a Tuesday press conference.
That’s when the two other victims arrived, and appear to have prevented the attack on the building to continue, Wahl said.
Mansour Kaziha, who was known as “Abu Ezz,” was a community leader who managed the mosque store for nearly 40 years was one of those victims. He was a well known figure in and around the Islamic Center — Imam Taha Hassane called him a “pillar” off the mosque who assisted in everything it did — and was a husband, a father, and a grandfather.
Nader Awad also lost his life while defending the center from the gunmen. He lived across the street from the Islamic Center, and came running to help when he heard gunshots, according to the San Diego Islamic Center.
Video of the shooting, Wahl said, shows the two suspected shooters, while moving through empty rooms inside, react to something outside the building.
“You could see one of them point to the window, and then they run out of a door right next to that window and immediately engage the two remaining victims outside in the parking lot.”
Wahl emphasized that their arrival drew the suspected gunmen away from the mosque.
“I truly believe that’s what saved the 140 kids who were just inside,” Wahl said.
Wahl emphasized that the three people killed first delayed the suspected shooters’ entry, then drew their attention away from the mosque’s interior. Then, as hundreds of police officers approached, they fled.
“I want to be clear all three of our victims did not die in vain, without distracting the attention without delaying the actions of these two individuals without questions there would have been many more fatalities yesterday,” Wahl said.
“These were men who put themselves on the line for our masjid and our community,” SD-CAIR wrote in a social media post. “Men of courage, sacrifice, and faith. Their absence leaves a void that can never truly be filled. They were more than community members, they were family.”
A victims and family support fund is being maintained by the Islamic Center of San Diego. That fundraiser can be found here.
“Places of worship are meant to be spaces of peace, prayer, reflection, and community. Violence and hatred have no place in our society,” said the Islamic Center’s website. “May Allah grant healing to the injured, mercy to those who lost their lives, and strength to everyone impacted by this tragedy.”
