Who was Amin Abdullah, the ‘hero’ security guard killed in the San Diego shooting? | | Crime Stories

A security guard at the Islamic Center in San Diego, California, has been hailed as a “hero” after he was killed while trying to prevent a suspected shooter from entering the San Diego mosque. attack police are investigating it as a hate crime.

At least three people were killed later Two youths shot at the San Diego mosque on Monday. Officials have not named the victims, but community leaders have identified the guard as Amin Abdullah.

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US officials said the guards “played a critical role” in preventing the attack from becoming “worse”. “It’s fair to say that his actions were strong,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a news conference. “Without a doubt, he saved lives today.”

At the time of the shooting, the children attended a private school located inside the building, according to ABC News.

The suspected gunmen killed themselves a short distance away.

This is what we know about the guards and the attack on the mosque.

Who was Amin Abdullah?

A family friend identified the guard as a well-known man at the mosque, who had worked there for more than a decade, the Associated Press reported.

“He wanted to protect innocent people, so he decided to become a guard,” said Sheikh Uthman Ibn Farooq, who spoke to Abdullah’s son. The family was not immediately available for comment.

Local reports indicate that Abdullah was the father of eight children.

After Abdullah was reportedly identified as one of the men killed in the attack, threats began to circulate online. A Facebook profile about him has 1,800 followers and lists Abdullah as married.

His most recent article was from May 13, showing a video of a raven perched on the top of a mosque, with the caption: “Hawk on the minaret again, Allahu Akbar.”

On May 5, he wrote: “What is success? For many people success is financial stability, good reputation, beauty, etc. But ME! Wallahi, thumma Wallahi. I return to Allah OUR CREATOR with the same holy spirit that he gave me when I was born.”

On his Facebook account, he posted several times every month since December 2025. His posts included Islamic views and videos of him practicing archery.

Some of Abdullah’s contributions were similar to the Facebook, X and Instagram posts of American Muslim scholar Omar Suleiman, who shared a photo of one of Abdullah’s posts on Facebook.

In his statement, Suleiman wrote: “Brother Amin Abdullah was in charge of the mosque in San Diego for many years. He helped a lot to prevent the shooters from reaching the children today. This was his last work on FB. On the most sacred days, may God have mercy on him and accept him as a martyr. Ameen”

What happened to the San Diego mosque?

Around 11:43 a.m. local time (18:43 GMT), police responded to reports of a gunman in the 7000 block of Eckstrom Avenue, arriving within four minutes, authorities said.

There was no specific threat against the Islamic Center of San Diego, but authorities found evidence that the suspects engaged in “a lot of hateful activities,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said. He declined to elaborate, but said “the circumstances leading up to this” will emerge in the coming days.

Before that, police had already been looking for one of the teenagers since his mother called police, worried that her son had killed himself and run away, Wahl said. There were tools missing from the home, and the woman’s car was missing, he added.

The manhunt was accelerated when police learned he was wearing camouflage and with a friend — a number not expected in a near-suicide, he said.

Police began using every technology they could to find the 17- and 18-year-old, including license plate scanners. The department sent officials to a nearby shopping center where the vehicle was being followed by police, and police notified the school where one of the suspects was a student, Wahl said.

When the police continued to question the women about where the youths might be, they received reports of shootings at the mosque.

The center is the largest mosque in San Diego County and is home to the Al Rashid School, which offers Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Koran to students ages 5 and up, according to its website.

Television footage showed more than a dozen children holding hands and walking out of the parking lot at the site as they were surrounded by dozens of police cars. The mosque is close to houses, apartments and shopping centers with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets.

The Islamic Center’s website says its mission is not only to help Muslims but to “work with the wider community to help the poor, educate, and improve our country”. Five daily prayers are held there, and the mosque works with other organizations and people of all religions on cultural matters.

How has the public responded so far?

The head of the mosque, Imam Taha Hassane, called it “very disgusting to look at the place of worship”.

He said: “All places of worship in our beautiful city must be protected at all times.”

He added that the center focuses on interfaith relations and community building, and a group of non-Muslims visited the mosque earlier on Monday to learn about Islam.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the largest Muslim rights groups and activists in the US, condemned the shooting.

“We are deeply saddened, but not surprised, to learn that those who attacked the Islamic Center in San Diego were allegedly motivated by anti-Muslim hatred,” CAIR said Monday.

Many politicians have spent the last year saying that ‘all major Muslims’ should be destroyed, that American mosques and elementary schools should be closed, and that American Muslims should be expelled from our country.

“The horrific attack on an American mosque was as predictable as it is unacceptable. Anti-Muslim hatred is one of the last acceptable forms of American society, and it is long past time for this tolerance to end.”

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said she was shocked by the attack. “I am saddened by the murderous attack at the Islamic Center in San Diego, which appears to be an act of violence against Muslims,” ​​he wrote on X.

“Islamophobia is endangering Muslim communities in this country. We must confront it head-on and stand together against the politics of fear and division. My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and all those who are grieving this attack.

“The NYPD (New York Police Department) is increasing the number of people at mosques across the city out of an abundance of caution. There are currently no known threats to NYC houses of worship.”

US President Donald Trump called the shooting “very serious”.