What to know about a deadly attack by teen gunmen on a San Diego mosque

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Police raced Monday to catch an armed teenage runaway before he and another teen opened fire on a San Diego mosque, killing three men and then themselves.

About two hours after one boy's mother called to warn police that he had run away with her weapons and vehicle, shots rang out at the Islamic Center of San Diego, and a mosque security guard and two others were killed, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

The gunmen, ages 17 and 18, were found dead of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, the chief added.

The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, he added.

Here's what is known about the attack:

Wahl said the mother, who called the police around 9:40 a.m., had described her son as suicidal. The search for the boy took on more urgency as police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and with an acquaintance — facts that were not consistent with someone about to die by suicide, the chief said.

Police used automated license plate readers to try to find the teens, dispatched authorities to a nearby mall and alerted Madison High School, where at least one suspect was a student, Wahl said. Officers were still interviewing the mother about places the teens might be when they received reports of a shooting at the largest mosque in San Diego County.

As police arrived, gunshots rang out a few blocks away where a landscaper was shot at but uninjured. The shooters were soon found dead in a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road nearby, Wahl said.

There was no specific threat made against the the Islamic Center of San Diego but authorities found evidence that the suspects engaged in “generalized hate rhetoric,” Wahl said. He declined to immediately share more details.

The mosque’s director, Imam Taha Hassane, said the center focused on interfaith relations, and that a group of non-Muslims had been touring the mosque earlier Monday to learn about Islam.

The white mosque is surrounded by homes, apartments and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets. It is home to the Al Rashid School, which offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Quran for students ages 5 and up, according to its website. No students were harmed, Hassane said, and aerial TV footage showed the school children holding hands as they were led out of the parking lot surrounded by police vehicles.

Police have not yet released the names of the victims. But a family friend identified one as Amin Abdullah, a security guard whom Wahl said “played a pivotal role” in preventing the attack from being more deadly.

Shaykh Uthman Ibn Farooq said he had spoken with Abdullah’s son. The family could not immediately be reached for comment.

“He wanted to defend the innocent so he decided to become a security guard,” he said.

Wahl credited Abdullah with saving lives.

“It’s fair to say his actions were heroic,” the chief said at a news conference.

Children hold hand as they walk near the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A body is covered with a tarp at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

People embrace near the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Police stage on a roof at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Alexander Rossi had surgery to repair minor injuries to his left hand Monday night following a crash earlier in the day during practice for the Indianapolis 500, his team announced.

Ed Carpenter Racing said Rossi, the 2016 race winner, hopes to drive in Friday's final practice and again in Sunday's race, even though his health status is still under evaluation.

Rossi was taken from Indianapolis Motor Speedway to a hospital after his car spun going through the second turn on the track's 2.5-mile oval and hit the outside wall before skidding down the track with the rear end of his No. 20 car briefly dragging along the top of the wall. The trailing Pato O'Ward tried to avoid a collision but couldn't stop in time and hit the side of Rossi's car. Romain Grosjean was also collected in the crash.

All three drivers went to the medical center with O'Ward and Grosjean being checked and released within minutes. Rossi, in contrast, was taken to the hospital after the first crash of the month on Indy's oval.

“Just wrong place, wrong time and just got collected there,” O'Ward said before Rossi's condition was updated. “These cars don't stop very well when you're going at those speeds and with how you run the brakes. Obviously, I just hit the brakes and there wasn't much I could do to avoid him, so I'm glad Alex is all right and Romain as well.”

It wasn't clear whether the crash would impact the 33-car starting grid for this weekend's sold-out race. Three of the eight fastest drivers in Sunday’s qualifying — Rossi, O’Ward and Conor Daly — all sustained damage to their cars, as did Grosjean, who qualified 24th.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Rossi came within a whisker of winning his first Indy pole. He was bumped out of the top spot by defending 500 champion Alex Palou of Spain. Palou's four-lap average of 232.248 mph was ahead of Rossi's 231.990. The Californian still wound up in the middle of the front row and is set to start from a career-best second.

O'Ward, the Mexican driver with Arrow McLaren, earned the No. 6 starting slot, the outside of Row 2, while Daly qualified eighth for his season debut with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Now all three, plus Grosjean, will spend the next three days repairing cars they’d spent months fine-tuning.

“The car was still really good again today in race trim, it felt really comfortable," Daly said. “Unfortunately, we got caught up in the Turn 2 accident in front of us and collected some damage. Hopefully the (crew) guys can get that all fixed up. I am still quite happy with the car.”

The grid already has changed because two drivers, Caio Collet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Jack Harvey, Daly's teammate, were sent to the back of the field because of rules violations. IndyCar officials said they found unapproved changes and unapproved hardware on the drivers' equipment when they went through post-qualifying technical inspection Sunday evening.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden posted the fastest lap in a practice session that was abbreviated first by the crash and then rain, which washed out most of the final hour that cars were scheduled to be on the track. One more short practice will be held Friday during the annual Carb Day festivities, which include the pit-stop competition.

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Pato O'Ward, of Mexico, drives through the third turn during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Alexander Rossi prepares too drive during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)