Security guard, two suspects killed in San Diego mosque shooting

A shooting at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, California, has left three people dead, including a security guard.

Police said they responded to the active shooting reported three hours ago at the facility, which is the city’s largest mosque.

Scott Wahl, San Diego police chief, said officers forced their way into the building after discovering three bodies outside.

“There was somewhere between 50 to 100 police officers inside of that facility,” Wahl said at a press conference.

“At the same time, they were responding to reports of a shooting at the mosque, law enforcement also received calls about another shooting a few blocks away.

“A landscaper on scene was shot at but not hit.”

Moments later, officers were called to a third location “where they found a vehicle in the middle of the street with who we believe to be the shooters in this incident — both deceased,” he added.

The police chief said they were 17 and 19 years old and “appear to have died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds”.

He noted that the security guard who was killed “played a pivotal role in assisting from this being much worse”.

“We are actively investigating the things that led up to this. Obviously these things don’t typically just happen on a whim, and the information that we knew preceding it is what we’re actively looking into,” Wahl said.

Wahl said investigators are considering the shooting a hate crime “until it’s not”.

President Donald Trump described the shooting as a “terrible situation”.

According to AFP, Trump told reporters authorities would look at the incident very strongly.