San Diego, California: Islamic Center Lockdown Lifted After Police Find No Threat

The Islamic Center of San Diego was placed on lockdown on Tuesday afternoon, October 27, after San Diego police said a woman who was driving erratically and was in a severe mental health crisis had mentioned heading to the center. Police lifted the lockdown by 4 p.m., reopened the center for evening prayer, and said there was no known threat to the center or to any other mosque in the city.

How the afternoon unfolded

According to police, the chain of events began around 1:50 p.m., when the San Diego Police Department was alerted to a driver who was driving erratically. The driver had already evaded the Carlsbad Police Department before heading south into the city of San Diego. By 2:30 p.m., San Diego police had received information that the woman was in a severe mental health crisis, had made suicidal statements to her family, and had mentioned heading to the Islamic Center of San Diego, in the 7000 block of Eckstrom Avenue.

Because of urgent concerns that she might be armed, tactical units reached the scene within five minutes and worked with center officials to put the complex on lockdown. The complex houses a full-time private school and youth programs, and children were on the property at the time. Police told reporters they were working to clear the remainder of the students from the site.

Investigators later established that the woman had briefly reached the property before officers arrived. She spoke directly with an on-site security guard and then drove away from the complex. Authorities confirmed that she never made any direct threats against the Islamic Center or any other location.

The lockdown widened, then lifted

The police department announced around 3 p.m. that the center was on lockdown out of an abundance of caution, said officers were at the location to keep everyone safe, and asked the public to avoid the area. Schools in the immediate area were also placed on lockdown, and officers were posted at mosques across San Diego.

By 4 p.m., the department confirmed that the woman was no longer in San Diego County and said it had alerted law enforcement in the area where she was last believed to be. CBS 8 reported that the lockdown lasted about two to three hours. Police said the investigation is ongoing and that officers were dispatched to mosques throughout the city to ensure community safety.

A site still carrying May

The center was the site of a mass shooting on May 18, when Caleb Vazquez and Cain Clark opened fire at the mosque after inscribing anti-Muslim hate messages on their weapons. A security guard and two worshippers were killed, and the two gunmen took their own lives. Clark, 17, and Vazquez, 18, were later found dead inside a vehicle near the mosque.

Prosecutors have charged Sarah Lindsey Santiago, a 17-year-old student from North Carolina, with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Prosecutors allege that she agreed before the attack to livestream the shooting, distribute the recording, and release a manifesto from the gunmen.

For the families and students at the center, Tuesday ended without injuries and without a new attack. The scare still forced a school day to end behind locked doors at a place where the memory of May is direct and recent, and where a single police alert was enough to bring tactical units back within minutes.