Several schools felt the impact of Monday’s shootings at and near the Islamic Center of San Diego, where gunmen killed three victims in a late-morning attack.
In addition to the school on-site at the center, Bright Horizon Academy, there are number of schools nearby, including Kavod Charter School and Clairemont Canyons Academy to the west and Lafayette Elementary School and Madison High School to the north.
Five San Diego Unified School District Schools, including Madison, went on lockdown, officials said, which were later lifted as police announced just after 1 p.m. that the threat at the center had been “neutralized.”
No students were injured in the shooting, but panicked parents quickly converged on Clairemont as word spread in the early afternoon about an active shooter at the center.
A mother holds her sleeping child outside the gates of Clairemont Canyons Academy while the school was on lockdown following a nearby shooting at San Diego’s largest mosque on Monday, May 18. (Photo by Thomas Murphy)Weeping, prayers outside Islamic school
As dozens of police cars lined the streets and helicopters flew overhead, officers cordoned off several blocks. From Lindbergh Park two blocks away, the white dome of the mosque was visible as armed officers kept watch from the roof.
The scene was enough to spark anyone’s fears and nearly two hours after the shooting, families still had no information about what had occurred inside Bright Horizon Academy at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
One woman, who declined to give her name, said through tears that parents from her son’s class share a WhatsApp group, which is how they first learned of the shooting. As her husband comforted her, she prayed for her son’s safety.
Faced with an information vacuum, a young mother whose 9-year-old son was inside tried to stay calm by listening to police frequencies on a radio. She called out updates to those around her, learning that a reunification center was being set up at 4125 Hathaway St., where families quickly began to gather.
A San Diego Unified School District police officer addresses a crowd as parents seek to pick up their children early at Clairemont Canyons Academy after a shooting at nearby Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, May 18. (Photo by Thomas Murphy)Another couple, who also declined to give their names, wept in anguish over their two children inside the school.
“We dropped them off this morning and told them to behave,” said the mother, her hair covered in a beige hijab.
“I heard the gunshots, and in less than three minutes, all these police cars arrived and started closing the streets,” said Juan Martinez, a food delivery driver working in the area. “It’s a good thing this didn’t happen on a Friday, because the park here gets crowded with Muslims.”
The San Diego Police Department urged residents to avoid the area while the investigation continued.
Clairemont Canyons Academy
It was a chaotic scene at Clairemont Canyons Academy as parents tried to pick up their children after a shooting at nearby Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, May 18. (Photo by Thomas Murphy)Police closed Balboa Avenue starting at Cannington Drive, redirecting parents arriving to pick up their children from Clairemont Canyons Academy.
School leaders issued a shelter-in-place, slowly gathering students to leave at the west entrance at the end of Mount Ada Road, beginning after 2 p.m. First graders were the first to leave, released into the care of their guardians.Parents gathered outside were shaken; silently waiting or speaking frantically on the phone to other loved ones. Some students assembled in the hall, kneeling, looking through the bars as parents waved to their children.Fathers picked up their crying children, quickly carrying them away from the school. Other parents consoled their youngsters while waiting for older siblings to be released.
By 3 p.m., officials closed the school gate; all students had left.
Parents waiting at Kavod Charter School, a block from the Islamic Center of San Diego, following the shooting on May 18, 2026. (Photo by Noah Perkins)Madison High School
Police headed to one other Clairemont school.
Before the mosque shooting started, police were dispatched to Madison High, just over a mile away, about a potential threat.
The search began when a mom reported a juvenile runaway at 9:42 a.m. She informed San Diego police that her car and several weapons were missing, and she couldn’t find her juvenile son. She feared he might be suicidal.
Police Chief Scott Wahl said the details she provided were not in line with typical suicidal behavior, so police elevated the threat level. Acting on information that the son and a companion were in some way associated with Madison High, police informed the school about a potential threat and dispatched officers. Soon after, shots were fired at the Islamic Center.
After the shooting, five San Diego Unified schools, including Madison High School, went on lockdown.
Superintendent Fabi Bagula also sent a statement that counselors are being made available at district schools to speak to impacted students.
Abandoned play equipment at Clairemont Canyons Academy after a lockdown pushed children inside on Monday, May 18 due to a nearby shooting. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)Hence then, the article about panicked parents rush to area around islamic center with classrooms on site schools nearby was published today ( ) and is available on Times of San Diego ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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