9-Year-Old Recalls Closet Hiding During San Diego Mosque Shooting

A nine-year-old boy has described the terror of hiding in a closet as a deadly shooting unfolded at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday. The attack left three men dead and sent dozens of students at an on-site school into lockdown before the two teenage suspects took their own lives.

Odai Shanah, a student at the Bright Horizons Academy within the mosque complex, recounted hearing a barrage of gunshots from outside the building. He said he and his classmates were quickly ushered into a closet, where they huddled together, trembling in fear as 12 to 16 more shots rang out. After the shooting stopped, they heard members of a police SWAT team shouting from outside the classroom before the door was opened.

As officers escorted the children out of the building, Shanah said they witnessed a horrifying scene. "We saw a bunch of bad stuff, people laying down and yeah, bad stuff," he said, acknowledging he was referring to the victims' bodies. The experience left him deeply shaken. "My legs were shaking and my hands and my head were like hurting a lot," he said. "I felt like a rock."

Police confirmed that three men affiliated with the Islamic Center were shot and killed outside the...