San Diego — The imam of the San Diego mosque that was targeted in Monday's shooting that killed three people told CBS News that his community has seen a "rise" in "Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment" in recent years.

"Everyone, all of us, we have noticed in the last few years the rise of white supremacists here in San Diego and all over the nation," Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego told CBS News on Tuesday.

In 2023, both the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, and the Anti-Defamation League found a significant rise in reports of anti-Muslim and antisemitic incidents following the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

And in its annual report released earlier this year, CAIR said it received 8,683 civil rights complaints nationwide in 2025, the highest since it began tracking those numbers in 1996.

"We have seen the rise of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment," Hassane said. "We know, we are not naïve. We know what is going on in the society. But at the same time, we try to protect ourselves and our congregations as much as we can."

Authorities said that two suspects in Monday's shooting, ages 17 and 18, opened fire at the Islamic Center, killing three men. The suspects were later found dead in a vehicle on a nearby street. Police said the massacre is being investigated as a hate crime.

The three victims killed included a security guard, Amin Abdullah, and two congregants, Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad.

"We feel very safe having brother Amin watching our back," Hassane said of Abdullah. "He was a person that you know, smiling all the time, non-stop smiling. All the kids love him."

The Islamic Center's Al Rashid School, which, according to its website, teaches Arabic and Islamic studies, was in session at the time of the shooting, but none of the students or staff were wounded. Hassane credited Abdullah for that outcome.   

"I can tell you that if it was not for him [Abdullah] taking action against the shooters, the shooters could easily have access to all the classrooms," Hassane said.

His words were echoed by San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl, who called Abdullah's actions "heroic," telling reporters that "undoubtedly he saved lives."

Hassane disclosed that Kaziha had been a congregant since the mosque broke ground about four decades ago, describing him as a "pillar" for the center.

"He is to me like a grandfather," an emotional Hassane said of Kaziha. "I could not do whatever I have done in the last 22 years in this place without him. I don't know what I'm going to do without him."

Hassane said the third victim, Awad, was the husband of one of the teachers of the Al Rashid School. When Awad heard the gunshots, according to Hassane, "he came with the intention of protecting."

"They try to get the law enforcement as soon as possible to take care of the situation," Hassane said of Awad and Kaziha. "So they sacrificed their lives for the entire community."

Hassane called the three men "heroes" who "sacrificed their lives to protect the entire community, the entire school and all the kids and the staff and the teachers who are inside."

He told CBS News that San Diego's Muslim population numbers more than 100,000, describing it as a "peaceful community, very faithful."

The mosque serves "a big portion" of that community and is a place where congregants can come "to offer their prayers, to learn about their faith, to socialize, to celebrate," he noted.  

"This is my community, you know, and we always thought that our places of worship are safe places, where we shouldn't be worried about any type of violence," Hassane said. "But what happened yesterday is something that we never, ever expected, unfortunately."

Hassane said he has received messages of support from "almost every single faith and denomination that exists here in San Diego," and believes his "community will come back stronger."

"This is not going to stop us from showing up, it's not going to stop us from getting involved and engaged civically and politically," Hassane said. "And it's not going to stop us from building bridges with other faith communities."