San Diego mosque shooting sparks chaos as children are evacuated in disturbing video

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: A heartbreaking video shows children, no more than 5 years old, being evacuated from the Islamic Centre of San Diego as two teens opened fire at the mosque.

In the aerial footage reported by KSWB, over a dozen small children are seen walking in a single file on Monday, May 18, as they were guided to safety by law enforcement.

Children are seen holding onto the shoulder of the person ahead of them as they form a chain walking out of the Islamic centre. The child walking first in the line held onto the hand of a law enforcement agent.

Centre’s Imam confirms safety in another video

“We are safe, the entire school is safe. All the kids, all the staff, and the teachers are safe and out of the Islamic Center,” center Imam Taha Hassane said in a video obtained by The Post and circulated among California’s Muslim community.

The Islamic Center of San Diego, the largest mosque in San Diego County, also houses the Al Rashid School, which offers Arabic language, Quranic and Islamic studies classes for children aged 5 and older, according to its website.

The incident unfolded at the start of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, one of the holiest months in the Islamic calendar, during which millions of Muslims travel to Mecca for the annual pilgrimage.

The shooters were identified as former high school wrestler Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Velasquez, 18.

Cops revealed that they had received a call from the shooter’s mother around  9:42 am about several of her weapons and her car being missing.

But it was too late as the horrifying shooting was already unfolding at the Islamic center.

First responders found three men dead upon arrival

Officers responded to the Islamic Center of San Diego at around 11:43 am following reports of an active shooter.

Upon arrival, the first responders found three adult men dead from gunshot wounds, according to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl.

Among those killed was a mosque security guard, who police believe “played a pivotal role” in keeping the attack from being “much worse.”

Shooters found dead blocks away in a car.

The officer received a call reporting a gunshot just a few blocks away from the Islamic centre, where a landscaper reported that shots were fired at him from a passing vehicle, though none of the bullets struck him.

As officers rushed to the location where the landscaper was shot, a white BMW was located stopped in the middle of the roadway, with two suspects dead from what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

A law enforcement source told The NY Post that anti-Islamic writings were found inside the BMW, along with a suicide note that included writing about racial pride.