An online fundraiser for the security guard credited by police for heroic actions during Monday’s shooting at a California mosque has raised a massive sum for the man’s family less than a day after the near-tragedy.
San Diego Police credit Amin Abdullah, a security guard at the Islamic Center of San Diego who was killed during the shooting, with playing a “pivotal role” in “minimizing” the tragedy after two teenage gunmen opened fire at the mosque. On LaunchGood, a Muslim-oriented version of crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe or GiveSendGo, a fundraiser for Abdullah’s widow and eight children has raised over $1.6 million as of this writing.
“Amin put himself between the gunmen and everyone inside,” the fundraising page for Abdullah’s family says. “Teachers, staff, and more than a dozen children were walked safely out of that building by police that afternoon, hand in hand. They are alive because Amin did his job. He paid for that with his life.”
Amin Abdullah.
He stood his ground so others could make it home safely.
When gunmen opened fire outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, Amin protected the community until his final moments. Police say his actions prevented the attack from becoming far worse.
Support Amin’s… pic.twitter.com/2er0Xld0Rl
— LaunchGood (@LaunchGood) May 19, 2026
Should the actions of the security guard be recognized as heroic?
Video from a car’s dashcam posted on X shows the suspected gunmen, 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez, firing at the mosque, the largest in San Diego County, and apparently receiving return fire from Amin. Multiple photos on Amin’s Facebook page show him in a tactical vest carrying a semiautomatic pistol and multiple magazines.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl confirmed during a Monday press conference that Abdullah, who was one of the three people killed in the attack, “played a pivotal role” in preventing a higher death toll.
“We do believe the security guard was able to help at least minimize the situation to the front area of the mosque,” Wahl told reporters.
“At this point, I think it’s fair to say his actions were heroic,” Wahl added. “Undoubtedly, he saved lives today.”
Clark and Vazquez were later found blocks away from the mosque with self-inflicted gunshot wounds, having apparently committed suicide after their attack. In a later briefing, Wahl said that the mother of one of the two suspects in the attack called to report her son as a runaway and suicidal before later reporting that some weapons and her car were missing.
In March, an armed security guard at a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, stopped a would-be active shooter from attacking. The would-be shooter, whose brother was a Hezbollah commander killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon, committed suicide.
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