San Diego Islamic Center shooting updates, police to hold press conference

[0:10] audio and yell at me. Yeah, I get it. I get it. I get it. Hey, that's a good idea. That's [6:39] a good idea. Got to get creative. You got to. Nobody's on their way yet, so just still [7:27] in holding pattern. I have a spelling and order of speakers if you guys need it. The [15:51] first speaker is going to be Chief Scott Wall. That's S-C-O-T-T-W-A-H-L. He's the police [15:57] chief for San Diego Police Department. Then we're going to have special agent in charge, [16:01] Mark. Let's wait for the plane. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. The second [16:22] speaker is going to be special agent in charge, Mark Remily. The last name is R-E-M-I-L-Y. [16:30] And then it'll be San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. T-O-D-D-G-L-O-R-I-A. Sorry, one more time. [16:42] With a K. M-A-R-K. Anything else? Again? One more time. Sure. It's a police [16:50] chief, Scott Wall. S-C-O-T-T-W-A-H-L. Special agent in charge, Mark Remily. That's M-A-R-K-R-E-M-I-L-Y. [17:03] He's with the FBI. And then San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. T-O-D-D-G-L-O-R-I-A. And I see them coming. [17:14] So, any minute. [18:13] Okay. Last mic check, guys. And white balance. We're about five minutes out. Five minutes out. [18:19] Mic check. One, two. Mic check. Mic check. Uno, dos, tres. Mic check. Mic, mic check. Check. One, two, three, four. [18:27] Mic check. Mic check. You all good? Of course, again, about five minutes out here. [18:38] We start off by extending heartfelt condolences to the Muslim community, to the families of the [21:20] three that are deceased because of the horrific actions of today. This is a city's and a community's [21:31] absolute worst nightmare as a free society. I appreciate all of your patience as we try to [21:41] work through and piece this scene back together again. I have some updated information that I [21:50] want to make sure everybody has. At about 9.42 this morning, we received a call of a runaway [21:59] juvenile. After speaking with the mom, mom began to piece together bits and pieces of information [22:11] over an extended period of time. The information that she was gathering and conveying to us [22:19] began to elevate the threat level that we were perceiving with this information. She believed [22:31] her son was suicidal. And she began to share information that several of her weapons were missing, [22:41] her vehicle was missing, in addition to her son. She also said that she was, her son was with a [22:54] companion and that they were dressed in camo. And that is not consistent with what we would typically [23:09] see from somebody that is suicidal. That began to trigger a larger threat assessment picture. Our threat [23:20] management unit began to take the tips and leads that we had and utilize the technology we have [23:25] available to us. Our license plate readers was at the top of that list. We began to have, we noted that [23:35] there were hits with the vehicle down in Fashion Valley. We dispatched officers into the area of the mall [23:42] as a possible location that was a threat. We also gathered information that one of the individuals was [23:56] associated in some form or fashion with Madison High School. We alerted school, the school police [24:03] department, and we dispatched officers into the area of Madison High School. While we were gathering [24:12] this information and we were trying to zero in on where these individuals were at, we received the call [24:22] at approximately 1143 that there was an active shooter at the Islamic Center. Officers were in the area, [24:31] still talking with mom, trying to piece together where they might be, the locations that she felt that they [24:42] would be at. And that was just a few blocks away. Those officers, once they heard what was happening at the [24:51] Islamic Center, immediately dispatched themselves to the mosque. And just to recap what we talked about [24:59] earlier, when officers arrived on scene, they came across in some form or fashion, three deceased individuals, [25:07] victims. One was a security guard at the center. We'll get some questions in just a minute, sir. Thank you. [25:18] Because of what the officers were encountering and because we know that this is a large gathering [25:29] facility with kids, with adults, with community members from throughout our county, officers [25:38] immediately began to enter the facility, utilizing our active shooter protocol, looking for a suspect or [25:47] two. At the same and in about the same time as they were making entry and searching through the facility [25:55] room by room. We received calls of a vehicle a couple blocks away that was shooting at a landscaper. [26:05] The landscaper is going to be okay, but we are still investigating that scene. It appears he may have [26:12] been shot in the helmet that deflected and saved his life, but that is not totally confirmed at this [26:19] point. A couple blocks away from there, we also received a call where a community member reported our [26:30] two suspects in a vehicle and it appeared they had gunshot wounds and upon our arrival, we determined [26:39] they were deceased. We are in the process of serving search warrants that will continue tonight and on [26:49] into the days ahead. We're going to continue following any leads and any information that comes forward [27:00] as we're all focused on figuring out how this happened and what could we have done to prevent it. [27:12] I will end by saying it's not a cliche. If you see something, if you hear something, if you know [27:24] something, that is an integral part of preventing things like this from happening and it's an integral [27:32] part for us to be able to take that information, utilize the tools that we have to try to prevent [27:38] something like this from happening. So with that, I'm going to bring up Mark Remley from the FBI [27:45] to discuss a little bit more information. Thank you all for coming. Thank you, Chief. My name is Mark [27:55] Remley. I am the special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego field office. As was reported earlier, [28:01] three adults have lost their lives in today's senseless act of violence. We also know the two [28:08] teenage subjects responsible are also deceased. The FBI is determined to uncover all the facts [28:15] associated with this incident and learn why this shooting occurred at the Islamic Center of San Diego. [28:22] Here's what we know at this time after our preliminary assessment and working closely with our law [28:26] enforcement partners to gather evidence. Victim specialists deployed to the reunification center [28:32] at 4125 Hathaway in San Diego. We're also having additional victim services personnel deploy from [28:40] our headquarters in Washington, D.C. to assist with the families that have been impacted. Our bomb techs [28:46] have cleared the vehicle associated with the subjects. We are in the process of interviewing family [28:52] and friends of the subjects and evidence tech evidence response teams are gathering all the [28:58] evidence from the scene for review. We will process everything as quickly but as meticulously as we [29:04] can. We can thank you for your patience as we work through the scene. The FBI stands with the communities [29:11] we serve and our hearts weigh heavy for those killed and everyone who's subjected to this violence [29:17] today. Shooting incidents like this not only impact those within the immediate vicinity but everyone in the [29:25] community also feels the effects. We will continue to coordinate with our law enforcement partners [29:31] and work closely with them for as long as it takes until we understand what happened. We will leave no stone [29:37] unturned. We thank the public for your continued cooperation. As we continue to work through this [29:44] active investigation we ask that you send photos, videos or any visual evidence or information you may have [29:51] to FBI.gov forward slash Islamic center of San Diego shooting. As I mentioned earlier no piece of [30:01] information is too small. Everything helps us gather all the relevant evidence we need to better understand [30:08] why this horrific incident occurred. So with that I'm going to turn it over to the mayor for some comments. [30:18] Thank you. [30:18] Today our city was shaken by a violent act of hate here at the Islamic Center of San Diego and my heart is with [31:10] every person that is impacted by this horrific tragedy. No one in our city should live in fear because of their [31:19] identity, their faith or their place of learning. I'm grateful to the San Diego Police Department, our San Diego Fire [31:26] Rescue Department and our partners at the local state and federal level, all of whom showed up here to [31:33] help with this investigation and this response and help to bring this threat to an end. This tragedy is [31:40] particularly hurtful to our Muslim community as it comes together at the start of the dual Hidhaj, one of [31:48] Islam's holiest periods leading up to the Hajj and the Eid al-Adha, a time of deep faith, reflection and unity. [32:00] Hate has no home in San Diego. Islamophobia has no home in San Diego. An attack on any San Diegan is an [32:09] attack on all San Diegans and we will not stand for it in America's finest city. Let there be no [32:18] misunderstanding for anyone who would seek to bring this kind of violence to this city. You will be met [32:25] with the full force of our law enforcement partnerships. Anyone who seeks to do harm here will [32:33] understand the response will be swift and you will be brought to justice. In the meantime, [32:38] I want to assure San Diegans in particular, our Muslim brothers and sisters, the San Diego Police [32:43] Department will be guarding all of our local houses of worship with additional presence to assure your [32:50] safety during this very, very tragic time. We'll be guarding other houses of worship and making sure that [32:55] we anticipate and try and prevent the very worst. We didn't meet that mark today, but I have deep gratitude [33:01] to the security officer who was here, whose actions and heroism undoubtedly saved lives. [33:06] And I'm grateful to every law enforcement individual who ran toward this call to help bring these people [33:12] to justice. I, my prayers and my thoughts and our whole hearts community is with the Islamic Center [33:17] of San Diego and all Muslim San Diegans. With that, I'll turn it back to our chief. [33:22] Before I open up to questions, we're a little over five hours outside of this incident. Understand the [33:40] complexity of and the dynamics of a situation like this and the emotions that are without a doubt [33:47] behind everything that's going on. Much of what else there is to answer is, is currently being [33:56] investigated and I cannot go into some of those details, but I will do my best to try to make sure [34:02] that you guys have the information you need moving forward. So with that, I will open up to some [34:08] questions. Yes, sir. Hang on. Yeah, we're we're actively investigating this as a hate crime. [34:33] There are details and information that we are investigating is to exactly what those [34:42] what the hate speech or the hate words were that were conveyed. Some of that is going to have to take [34:51] more time to develop further to see where that information is coming from. But yes, it's being [34:59] investigated as a as a hate crime. At this point, there was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved [35:06] involved. I'll leave it at that for now. Yes, we're still preliminary. We're still looking into that. [35:24] We do believe the security guard was able to help at least minimize [35:30] the situation to to to the front area of the mosque. Until we know more. I don't want to speculate. [35:40] But at this point, I think it's fair to say his his actions were heroic. And undoubtedly, [35:47] he saved lives today. Yes, ma'am. I don't have details. But yes, the call came in as a runaway [35:58] and then it kind of elevated as mom began to kind of piece together what she was finding with her son [36:06] being missing. She came up. She realized that she was missing weapons, multiple weapons. Her vehicle [36:15] was missing. There are details that she she was beginning to develop a bigger picture as to what [36:20] she was dealing with was conveying that to our folks. And we were trying to put that together and get out in [36:26] front of this as quickly as we could. She found some note left by him. What that note looks like, [36:34] what that note says. I'm not going to disclose right now. Yes, sir. Search warrants that we're [36:45] going to be serving. I'm not going to put that information out right now. No. Some of that [36:55] information were that's what we're actively looking and investigating right now. Obviously, we have a lot [37:01] of questions is what led up to this moment. And that will that will be ongoing in this investigation [37:07] as we move forward. I'm sorry. I'm not sure at this point. We have we we've just basically notified [37:30] family of those victims. We're not going to put out their identity right now. We will we will put that [37:39] information out here in the days ahead. But but for now, we're not we're not putting that information [37:43] out. We're trying to protect kind of what we have. There's more work to be done. And we want to make [37:47] sure that we're preserving some of that for the moment. Yes, ma'am. I'm going to let Imam Taha answer that [38:02] type of question. I don't know for sure. I don't know for sure. 17 and 18. Yeah, I think it's 18. [38:14] And then I need to correct that. I think I put out earlier was 19. I believe it's 18. No unknown [38:26] at least one. But unknown about the other one. It just in general. Well, I think it's fair to say [38:46] that that all religious facilities across this country around the world in today's world are well [38:54] aware of of the risks of that are associated. It's an it's an unfortunate reality of the world [39:02] we live in today. But I would say absolutely. Everybody feels that that that insecurity. [39:10] Well, first, let me make sure I'm clear that there was no specific threat, [39:27] especially no specific threat to the Islamic Center. It was just general hate kind of speech [39:32] that I think covered a wide gamut. I don't want to go into any of the specifics at this point. [39:38] Again, we are still actively investigating this as we speak. But it was more generalized in some form [39:50] or capacity. He was associated with the school as a student. Exactly what that capacity is, [39:56] we're not sure of just yet. So the question is, was there a specific threat to the high school? There [40:04] was no specific threat to any facility or any place with what we knew. There was generalized hate [40:14] rhetoric and speech. Mom believed that her son was suicidal. But the additional bits of information [40:23] led us to believe that there was a bigger threat picture here that we needed to consider. One person [40:33] that's suicidal is not going to take three weapons from a location. Those little bits of information [40:42] were significant and important that triggered a much bigger threat assessment that began to bring [40:48] additional investigators in to utilize the technology that we have available to try to get out in front [40:53] of what we feared would be coming. But there was no specific threat to this center or any religious [40:59] facility or any school in or any mall in any way. I want to make sure that's clear. We don't we don't get [41:05] that wrong. We're still investigating. But yes, we do believe that's all associated with the larger [41:21] picture of today's events. It's not they're not they're not separate. Let me start. Go ahead. Yeah. [41:42] So first of all, this is why we need the community. This is a partnership. Public safety is a shared [41:47] responsibility. It is important that people share information when they see, hear or know something [41:58] that pertains to threats of violence. That is what allows us to filter through who is going to cause [42:09] harm and who is not. So that information is priority one. I'll let Imam Taha speak to that. The younger. [42:30] All right. Listen, folks, we'll sit here all night and go question and answer. We will provide more [42:37] information when more information is available. And we have more of the information confirmed that we're [42:45] now starting to speculate on. I want to make sure that you have the details thus far, [42:49] so that you understand exactly what we were responding to, what we were dealing with. [42:54] And I'll close by saying this. Our hearts go out to the families, obviously the greater Muslim [43:02] community. We're one city and we're one community. As police chief, I am grateful that we have police [43:17] officers and sheriff's deputies from throughout this county that dropped what they were doing and didn't [43:24] do just what they were trained to do. They did what we hired them to do, to step into harm's way, [43:28] to be willing to willing to run towards gunfire to protect people they don't even know. And so with [43:36] that, thank you for your patience. And we will be back out in the days ahead with more information. [43:42] Thank you. My name is Taha Hassan. I'm the Imam and the Director of the Islamic Center of San Diego. [44:02] All what I can say at this moment is that my community is mourning. My community is mourning. This is [44:14] something that we have never expected to take place. But at the same time, the religious intolerance [44:22] and the hate, unfortunately, that exists in our nation is unprecedented. All of us, we are [44:30] responsible for spreading the culture of tolerance, the culture of love. All of us, we are responsible [44:39] from whatever position we have as parents, as media people, as elected officials, as law enforcement, [44:48] as religious leaders. All of us, we can do something to protect our nation, to protect our society. [44:58] And please, I have one request to the media. Stop sharing the picture of the victims. I heard that there [45:08] is a picture of an uncovered body going on. Please respect the privacy of the families and stop sharing [45:19] these kind of pictures. Please let the families mourn. Let them pray as we do always at the Islamic Center [45:28] of San Diego. It's a house of worship. It's not a battlefield. Come on. People come to the mosque to pray, [45:38] to socialize, to celebrate, to enjoy their time together. Muslims and non-Muslims alike, everyone [45:48] have been always welcomed. Our doors are always welcomed. We never ask people when they show up at [45:55] the door of the Islamic Center. We never ask them whether you are a Muslim or not. Who are you? [46:02] Because everyone is welcome. So let's do our best to spread this culture of love and tolerance and [46:10] sympathy for the sake of this nation, for the sake of the future generation. Thank you so much. Thank you. [46:20] Thank you. That's all that we have for right now. We will be doing Spanish separately. Give us a minute.