San Diego Islamic Centre shooting leaves five dead, police say threat ‘neutralised’

• NBC footage shows heavy police presence near Centre.
• Officers seen aiming rifles at facility as response continues.
• Armed cops enter complex during ongoing security operation.
  

At least five people were killed in a shooting at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, the region’s largest mosque, after scores of law enforcement officers converged on the complex following reports of an active shooter, with police later saying the threat had been “neutralised.”

Police are considering the shooting at the Islamic Centre of San Diego as a possible hate crime, the San Diego Police Chief said, adding that the attack left three victims dead, along with two suspects who were also killed. One of those killed at the Islamic Centre was a security guard, according to police.

The San Diego-area branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said on its X account that at least one person was killed by a shooter at the mosque. The organisation also said children were inside a school housed at the complex at the time of the incident.

The New York Times, citing an email message from the mosque’s chairman, Ahmed Shabaik, reported that at least one person, a security guard, had been killed.

At about the same time, the San Diego Police Department reported in a post on X that the “threat at the Islamic centre has been neutralised.”

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria first reported around noon PDT (1900 GMT) that he had been informed of an “active shooter situation” at the Islamic centre in the Clairemont community of San Diego, California’s second-most populous city. The San Diego police posted separately that its officers were on the scene “for a reported active shooter.”

Footage from local television stations showed dozens of patrol cars on a highway bridge next to the Islamic Centre, with police officers and their vehicles surrounding the grounds, aiming rifles at the facility.

Police in tactical gear armed with rifles were also seen perched on the roof of the mosque near its dome, and TV images from the scene showed armed officers on the ground making their way through the complex.

The Islamic Centre in Clairemont is the largest mosque in San Diego County and houses the Bright Horizon Academy, a school providing Islamic education, according to its website.

“We strongly condemn this horrifying act of violence at the Islamic Centre of San Diego,” CAIR-San Diego’s executive director, Tazheen Nizam, said in a statement.

“No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school. We are working to learn more about this incident, and we encourage everyone to keep this community in your prayers,” Nizam said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom was briefed on the “evolving situation,” according to his office of emergency services.