Axios San Diego

May 19, 2026
It's a dark Tuesday for our city, but we're all here together.
☀️ Today's weather: Coast — Mostly sunny, high 68; Inland — Mostly sunny, high 77
🎧 Sounds like: "I Still Care for You" by Ray LaMontagne
Today's newsletter is 919 words — a 3.5-minute read.
1 big thing: The Islamic Center tragedy
San Diego woke up still reeling from yesterday's fatal shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
- Three people, including a mosque security guard, were killed in the attack.
- Two suspected gunmen, ages 17 and 18, were found dead of what are believed to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds nearby.
Catch up quick: Police began receiving calls regarding an active shooter there around 11:40 am yesterday.
- The center also operates as a school, and all the children there at the time were thankfully unharmed.
Police Chief Scott Wahl called the scene "extremely chaotic" during a press briefing yesterday, and said responding officers found three deceased victims outside the center.
- At about the same time as police were arriving to the mosque, calls began coming in of gunfire a few blocks away, and that a landscaper was shot at but not struck, Wahl said.
- Officers were soon called to another nearby location to find the shooting suspects deceased in a vehicle.
- Officers conducted room-by-room clearance of the mosque, breaching doors in some instances, Wahl said.
- There were between 50-100 officers in the mosque at one point, and Wahl praised the officers for their rapid response.
He said there will be "a tremendous amount of information and details to come."
- The victims have not been identified, pending next-of-kin notification.
- "This is every community's worst nightmare," Wahl said.
Driving the news: Wahl said they are considering the attack a hate crime until an investigation proves otherwise.
- "There was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved, I'll leave it at that for now," he said.
Zoom in: The Islamic Center is the largest mosque in San Diego County, according to its website.
- "Places of worship are meant to be spaces of peace, prayer, reflection, and community," the center posted on its website yesterday. "Violence and hatred have no place in our society."
Zoom out: Yesterday began one of the holiest periods in the Islamic year, Dhul Hijjah.
- Muslims observe the first 10 days of the lunar month as a second chance to have sins forgiven after Ramadan.
- Dhul Hijjah marks the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage season, culminating in Eid al-Adha.
2. A community shaken
Homayra Yusufi has gone to the Islamic Center of San Diego since she was a child and told Axios that the community has long been afraid something like yesterday's fatal shooting would happen.
- "The Islamic Center has gotten multiple threats of violence, and so this is all of our nightmares," she said.
Zoom in: Yusufi said the deceased security guard, who had yet to be identified, had worked at the mosque for some time.
- "Everyone in the community knows him," she said.
- Wahl called the security guard's actions "heroic," and that he "undoubtedly saved lives today."
- Yusufi said the mosque houses a K-3 school, and they all were put in lockdown before being escorted out safely.
It could have been much worse, Yusufi said.
- It could have happened when hundreds gather for prayer there at 1pm every Monday.
- "So we're relieved it didn't happen during prayer time," Yusufi said.
3. What we know about the gunmen
The two suspects in yesterday's attack have not been identified, but Chief Wahl provided a grim timeline of how the 17-year-old and 18-year-old came onto SDPD's radar just two hours before the shooting.
At 9:42 am yesterday, police received a report of a runaway juvenile.
- They spoke to the juvenile's mother, who said she believed her son was suicidal and that "several of her weapons were missing," along with her car.
- The mother told police her son "was with a companion and that they were dressed in camo."
- "She found some note left by him," Wahl added, declining to disclose the note's contents.
Police began to search for the car and had hits from a license plate reader near the Fashion Valley mall.
- Officers began searching near the mall and at Madison High School in Clairemont. Wahl would not confirm whether either of the suspects were students at the school.
When officers were speaking with the mother, the call came in for the active shooter at the Islamic Center.
- "Officers were in the area still talking with mom, trying to piece together where they might be, locations that she felt that they would be at, and that was just a few blocks away," Wahl said.
4. Other San Diego headlines
Smoke from a roughly 10,000-acre wildfire on Santa Rosa Island is drifting into San Diego, prompting air-quality concerns for residents. (FOX 5 San Diego)
San Diego County's proposed $9.1 billion budget climbed 6% over last year's budget, with more money flowing toward behavioral health, homelessness services and migrant support programs.
- The spending plan lands as federal funding uncertainty continues to hang over local agencies. (KPBS)
5. 💗 A blessing
Unidentified loved ones reunite at Lindbergh Park as law enforcement and emergency services responded to the shooting yesterday.
6. 💔 Beach view to go
A reminder that when terrible things happen, we should hold each other close.
- The Islamic Center of San Diego is collecting donations.
- San Diego County is offering mental health resources.
🦦 And SeaWorld just launched a new sea otter live cam, which Claire will be watching nonstop for the next few days.
- Let that be a reminder that our world is not all darkness, even on the bad days.
💔 Claire, Kate and Geoff are thinking of the victims' families.
Editor's note: The story has been updated to reflect SDPD's correction of the age of one suspect as 18 (not 19).
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