San Diego — Like other schools in the U.S.A., the Islamic Center of San Diego wanted to prepare their students for a possible gunman breaking through its walls. Subscribe to this story to enjoy it ad free

Enjoy unlimited access to exclusive content and articles without ads. The teacher’s assistant at NBC News reported that when the “active shooter” exercises were tested, the students in a classroom followed the drills exactly. They “went right to work,” the assistant said. The assistant Imani who teaches 2nd and 3rd graders, and goes by her firstname, said that if the students had not followed through with their drills, it could have resulted in a different outcome. The authorities have confirmed that the three victims of the shooting at the largest mosque in San Diego County, as described on the website, were all standing outside. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said that no one inside the center, including the dozens of schoolchildren attending the centre at the time, was injured. Amin Abdullah fired shots at the teens who tried to enter a mosque. Wahl, a reporter at the time, said that Amin Abdullah used his radio to initiate a lockdown protocol. Taha Hassane is an imam from the mosque. She said that lockdown drills are practiced by the center multiple times each school year. Abdullah was with the mosque several years ago and knew the system which alerts teachers in classrooms of active shooters.

On Tuesday, police te was placed outside the Islamic Center of San Diego. Sandy Huffaker/ Wahl said Abdullah had “delayed and distracted” the shooters, preventing them from reaching the area of the mosque that contained up to 140 children. Imani recalls that she immediately looked to her colleague when she heard the shots. They both instantly knew what had hpened. She said, “We told them this was not a drill.” “There’s an active shooter and let’s get out.”

She explained that students followed the drills they had practiced, settling into a corner in the classroom and staying low so as to avoid windows. They also made sure all the doors and windows were closed and locked. She said the students remained quiet, even when they heard the shooters banging doors and trying open them. Imani told reporters that she was “proud” of the students and their bravery, and added: “They kept it together.” Michael Ho Wai Lee via . two armed teenagers stormed the mosque Monday Michael Ho Wai Lee/Anadolu.

Wahl says that some of the video footage from the mosque shows the gunmen moving around the rooms, but they were all empty. Wahl stated that the shooters found Mansour Kaziha, and Nader Adwad in the parking area outside and fatally killed them. Imani stated that each of these victims “worth more than 1000 men.” “They are why all 140 of us survived.”

According to authorities, the gunmen identified as Caleb Vazquez (18) and Cain Clark (17) are believed to have committed suicide after fleeing the mosque. Law enforcement officials said that authorities are investigating the motives of their

they may have posted online. The

antisemitic, anti-Islamic and antiLGBTQ views are attributed to accelerationism – a white supremacist ideologie that encourages violence in order to create a white ethnostate. Mark Remily, an FBI official who spoke to reporters on Tuesday, said that “these subjects didn’t discriminate based on whom they hated.” Morgan Chesky reported on the story from San Diego. Tim Stelloh covered it from Alameda.