Suspect’s mother warned police of missing guns before mosque attack.

People embrace outside the Islamic Center of San Diego after at least three people were killed in an attack there on Monday, May 18, 2026. Three men were killed in the attack, including a security guard who officials credited with preventing a more deadly massacre at the mosque. (John Francis Peters/The New York Times)

By TIM ARANGO, NEIL VIGDOR and POOJA SALHOTRA

A mother warned the San Diego police that her teenage son and a companion had taken several guns from her home on Monday, two hours before a deadly shooting rampage at a nearby mosque.

Three men were killed in the attack, including a security guard who officials credited with preventing a more deadly massacre at the mosque, the Islamic Center of San Diego. Two suspected shooters — including the woman’s son — were found dead in a car nearby, police said.

The suspects appeared to have died from self-inflicted gunshots, the San Diego police chief, Scott Wahl, said in a news conference. The chief said one suspect was 17 and the other 18, correcting himself after earlier saying they were 17 and 19.

Investigators recovered anti-Islamic writing in the car, according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter who were not authorized to share details publicly. The words “hate speech” were written on one of the firearms used in the attack, the two officials said, and one of the suspects had left a suicide note.

Here’s what to know:

— A mother’s warning: The mother, whom Wahl did not name, called the police two hours before the shooting, reporting that her son was suicidal and had gone missing with a companion, along with her vehicle and several weapons. The police used license plate readers and other technology to try to locate them. Officers were still with the mother when the attack was reported.

— Witness account: Vanessa Chavez, 46, who lives across the street from the Islamic Center, said that she saw a security guard outside the mosque in a tactical vest get hit by at least two gunshots. He fell, then stood up and went inside, she said. “Now seeing that he lost his life, it was very brave of him.”

— Landscaper fired on: After the mosque attack, a landscaper was shot at from a vehicle a few blocks away from the Islamic Center. The bullet may have ricocheted against the helmet he was wearing, which likely saved his life, Wahl said.

— Growing attacks: The shooting occurred as a growing number of religious institutions across the nation have become targets of violence, prompting increases to security. In March, a man attacked a synagogue outside Detroit with a truck before he died in a confrontation with security guards.

— Extra deployments: In response to the attack, several police departments in California and cities across the country said they would increase patrols of mosques, Islamic cultural centers and other houses of worship as a precaution.