at a Tuesday news conference<\/a> that if she popped a tire while driving on the freeway, he would drop everything to make sure she was safe. He spoke to her often about the world, about faith, and, to her brothers, about how to navigate the world as young Black Muslim men.<\/p>\n\u201cHe was a role model, he was a best friend, he was the best dad in the whole world,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
He would skip meals, worried that something bad would happen if he took a break while at work. <\/p>\n
Abdullah had previously worked in a nearby dental office, but after the 2019 massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, he was inspired to switch focus and began to train himself on situational awareness and how to analyze an unfolding active shooter incident. Years later, he took a job as a security guard at the Islamic Center of San Diego.<\/p>\n
Ismahan Abdullahi, a local Muslim leader and activist who serves as executive director of the political advocacy organization Faith Power Alliance, said Abdullah had encouraged her and other women, particularly those who wore hijabs, to learn self-defense. <\/p>\n
He wanted men, too, to work out and be strong, in case they ever needed to defend their families, she said, and he offered frequent training for volunteers at nearby mosques that might not have the funds to hire security. <\/p>\n
Abdullah took his job so seriously, Abdullahi said, that he would stand in the sun, always at the ready. The mosque eventually built a small shed for him as a place for respite from the heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen him sit in all these years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
He loved archery, considering it a lost art, and would make his own bows that he would dole out as gifts. He saw great beauty in the natural world, often sharing photos with friends of hawks soaring over the mosque\u2019s minaret.<\/p>\n
His sister Angela Climax, who also goes by Aisha Muhammad, said she would follow him around as a child and the pair would play cops and robbers. She described him as \u201chypervigilant.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was always in this mind frame of protecting,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe he died in the way he wanted to. But humanly, it\u2019s hard for us to swallow the concept of, \u2018I can\u2019t pick up the phone and call my brother.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
The San Diego police chief said Abdullah\u2019s bravery in confronting the shooters saved lives. As the gunmen charged toward the mosque, Abdullah returned their fire, striking one of them. He reached for his walkie-talkie and called for the school to be locked down even as the gunmen forged forward, according to a witness and video reviewed by law enforcement.<\/p>\n
When the two gunmen scoured the mosque, they only found empty rooms.<\/p>\n
Mansour Kaziha, 78 ![\"Mansour](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779450737_643_.jpeg\")
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Mansour Kaziha, known in the community as \u201cAbu Ezz,\u201d for decades ran a store inside the Islamic Center of San Diego.<\/p>\n
(San Diego Police Department)<\/p>\n
Kaziha had run the gift shop inside the mosque since the facility opened more than three decades ago. But his role went far beyond storekeeper, Hassane said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the cook, the handyman, he was the caretaker,\u201d the imam said. \u201cHe was everything.\u201d <\/p>\n
During holidays and the month of Ramadan, the man known in the community as \u201cAbul Ezz\u201d would cook a massive meal for congregants. The spread often included lamb, chicken, rice and his famous lentil soup. <\/p>\n
Kaziha would stock the mosque\u2019s store with books, always anticipating the community\u2019s needs, finding introductory prayer books and Spanish translations for the mosque\u2019s growing Latino population. He sold prayer beads, rugs and an array of snacks. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was always feeding us,\u201d said Asim Billoo, 42, a counselor for youth at the mosque. <\/p>\n
Billoo\u2019s daughters\u2019 favorite halal crispy rice treats were unavailable for a time due to pandemic-related supply chain issues. When Kaziha restocked, he made sure to let them know. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy kids loved those,\u201d Billoo said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe he had remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaziha came to the U.S. from Syria and had five sons and several grandchildren. <\/p>\n
Each Sunday, early in the morning, he would deep-clean the large hall, even though the mosque had assigned custodial staff. He would fix locks and windows, check ventilation and change water filters. As he grew older, and cooking and cleaning became harder, his labor of love became a family affair, with his sons regularly helping out. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew his one purpose was to serve this beautiful community,\u201d his son Yasser Kaziha said at an event<\/a> in recent days captured on video. <\/p>\nKaziha was the first to call 911, Hassane said. He and another victim, Nadir Awad, had run toward the mosque and were on the phone, hiding behind cars in the parking lot, trying to reach out to police. The pair drew the shooters back outside and into the parking lot, away from the sheltering teachers and children. They were cornered and killed.<\/p>\n
The mosque reopened to congregants on Wednesday. But the store remained closed, cordoned off with caution tape.<\/p>\n
Nadir Awad, 57 ![\"Nadir](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779450738_478_.jpeg\")
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Nadir Awad, a longtime community member who was married to a kindergarten teacher at the Islamic Center of San Diego.<\/p>\n
(San Diego Police Department)<\/p>\n
Awad, who lived just across the street from the mosque, attended daily for prayers. His wife teaches kindergarten at the school. <\/p>\n
Awad owned a limousine company, and his big SUV was a fixture in the area. He was thought of as the mosque\u2019s neighborhood watch. <\/p>\n
Family members recounted to others how he was cooking in the kitchen when he heard the gunfire. He threw off his apron and sprinted toward it. He died alongside Kaziha.<\/p>\n
Awad\u2019s daughter said in a social media post that he had risked his life saving her mother and others at the school. <\/p>\n
\u201c[H]e heard gunshots and ran over to help without hesitation,\u201d Renad Awad wrote. \u201cI am beyond proud of him, and beyond proud to call him my father, habibi baba.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abdimalik Buul, an administrative executive in California\u2019s community college system who attended the school and grew up with Awad\u2019s children, said Awad helped newcomers in the mosque find work and helped Buul\u2019s own brother get a job as a driver.<\/p>\n
Awad had an unrelenting but self-deprecating sense of humor, and he loved his wife\u2019s knafeh, the sweet, stretchy cheese Palestinian dessert. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe had the bubbliest smile. He would greet you from halfway across the mosque. He was an amazing soul,\u201d Buul said.<\/p>\n
Buul\u2019s 8-year-old daughter was barricaded in a classroom during the shooting. He worries, he said, about his daughter growing up in such a hateful climate and \u201csickening culture of gun violence.\u201d <\/p>\n
But he was more at ease knowing the three men were there for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m forever indebted and grateful to these three brave souls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Times staff writer Salvador Hernandez contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
![\"Amin](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779450736_912_.jpeg\")
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