SAN DIEGO — A heartbreaking firsthand account has emerged from a child survivor of Monday’s deadly San Diego mosque shooting, detailing the terrifying moments students huddled inside a classroom closet while gunfire erupted outside.
Nine-year-old Odai Shanah was among dozens of children attending the Bright Horizon Academy, an Islamic day school housed within the Islamic Center of San Diego. Speaking with reporters with his parents’ permission, Shanah described hearing an initial barrage of gunfire before teachers quickly ushered his class into a closet. There, they trembled in fear as an additional 12 to 16 shots echoed through the complex.
“My legs were shaking and my hands and my head were like hurting a lot,” Shanah recalled of the trauma. “I felt like a rock.”
The Evacuation: ‘We Saw a Bunch of Bad Stuff’
Once the gunfire ceased, heavily armed SWAT teams cleared the building room by room. Shanah recounted hearing officers shout, “OK, open up,” before guiding the children out of the hiding spot in a single-file line with their hands raised.
However, the evacuation forced the young students to pass directly through the active crime scene outside. It was during this exit that Shanah witnessed the grim aftermath of the targeted assault.
“We saw a bunch of bad stuff, people laying down and yeah, bad stuff,” Shanah said, using a phrase his parents later confirmed referred to the bodies of the victims.
An Act of Hate: What We Know About the Attack
The mass shooting occurred shortly before midday prayers at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the region’s largest mosque. Law enforcement officials confirmed that the gunmen never successfully breached the interior of the building, which kept the children inside the academy physically unharmed.
According to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl, the assault is being actively investigated as a hate crime. Authorities revealed that the mother of one of the suspects had called police two hours prior to report her son missing alongside several of her firearms. A subsequent note recovered by investigators contained clear “hate rhetoric,” though it did not specify a precise target.
The Incident Profile
- The Suspects: Two teenagers, aged 17 and 18, who traveled to the location in a vehicle before opening fire. Both suspects died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds several blocks away following the attack.
- The Victims: Three adult men closely affiliated with the mosque were killed outside the facility.
- Heroic Intervention: Investigators credited an on-site security guard—who was among those tragically killed—with confronting the gunmen and taking decisive action that undoubtedly prevented a far higher loss of life.
| Incident Element | Verified Details |
| Location | Islamic Center of San Diego (Clairemont Neighborhood) |
| Investigation Status | Active FBI / SDPD joint investigation treated as a Hate Crime |
| Casualties | 3 victims deceased; 2 suspects deceased via suicide |
| Student Status | All Bright Horizon Academy students accounted for and safe |
A Community in Mourning Ahead of Holy Week
The violence has sent shockwaves through Southern California, particularly because it occurred just one week before the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Local and state leaders immediately condemned the targeted attack, emphasizing solidarity with the region’s Muslim community.
“This is every community’s worst nightmare,” Chief Wahl stated during a press briefing. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria echoed the sentiment, asserting that “hate has no home in San Diego.”
For the Shanah family, the tragedy carries a cruel layer of irony. Odai Shanah’s mother fled war-torn Gaza for the United States two decades ago to escape violence, only for her American-born son to experience a mass shooting inside his own school. Mosque leadership has urged the public to allow families space to grieve as federal and local agencies continue processing the scene.
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