9/11 Hijackers Once Attended the San Diego Mosque Attacked Monday Afternoon…

San Diego police said the threat at the Islamic Center was neutralized after a major emergency response. Authorities have been investigating the attack as a possible hate crime, while officials continue working to confirm the full timeline, motive and details surrounding the suspects and victims.

The mosque’s history has drawn renewed attention because Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, two of the hijackers who later helped crash American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, lived in the San Diego area before the September 11 attacks. Investigations after 9/11 examined their time in Southern California, including contacts they made in the local Muslim community and the help they received while settling in the region.

There is currently no evidence that Monday’s shooting is connected to that history. Police have not said the 9/11 connection played any role in the attack, and the investigation remains focused on the present-day shooting.

Still, the location’s past is now being discussed again as the country watches another violent attack unfold at a house of worship.

For San Diego, the immediate focus remains on the victims, the mosque community, and the police investigation. But the attack has also reopened a painful chapter tied to one of the most scrutinized periods in American history.