More than 2,000 people gathered Thursday in San Diego, California, to mourn three men killed while trying to stop the San Diego mosque attack.
The Janazah prayer was held for Amin Abdullah, 51, Mansour Kaziha, 78, and Nadir Awad, 57. Mourners called them heroes for delaying the attackers at the Islamic Centre of San Diego.
The FBI and San Diego police are investigating Monday’s attack as a suspected hate crime, according to officials.
Police said Abdullah, a security guard, used his radio to trigger a lockdown. About 140 students hid inside the mosque school during the attack.
Kaziha worked as the centre’s handyman and cook. Awad lived nearby, and his wife taught at the centre. Police said both men ran toward the gunfire before the attackers shot them.
Read: San Diego Mosque Shooting Kills 3; Suspects Dead
Police said the two teenage assailants fled the mosque in a vehicle. Officers later found them dead inside the car from self-inflicted gunshots.
Imam Taha Hassane said the community was “standing strong and firm.” The three men were buried together at a nearby cemetery on Thursday.