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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Jennifer Chowdhury

San Diego’s Muslim community picks up the pieces after mass shooting: ‘We’re just your neighbors’

A group of people embrace in a tight huddle near police tape.
Mourners embrace one another near the Islamic Center of San Diego on 19 May 2026, a day after the deadly shooting. Photograph: Nelvin C Cepeda/San Diego U-T/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

Teacher’s assistant Iman Khatib was administering tests at the elementary school inside the Islamic Center of San Diego (ICSD) when she heard the bangs. She locked the classroom door, turned off the lights, silenced her phone and walkie-talkie, and crawled under a desk with her co-worker.

In the preschool classrooms nearby, three- and four-year-olds did the same – staying completely silent, hiding in corners, following the protocols they had been taught during drills. Outside, the first-grade class was at recess when the first shot rang out.

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