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'I felt like a rock': 9-year-old recalls horror of San Diego Islamic Center shooting that killed three
"They told us to put our hands up and form a big line," the boy said as he saw another group of younger students forming line to get evacuated.
Nine-year-old Odai Shanah was one among the dozens of children who witnessed the deadly gunfire that erupted at the Islamic Center of San Diego in the United States on Monday. He recalled hearing a barrage of gunshots coming from outside the walls of the complex, which also houses an Islamic day school.
Shanah told news agency Reuters in an interview that he and his classmates were quickly guided to close in their classroom where they crowded together. They trembled in fear as 12 to 16 more shots were fired. Once the shooting ceased, the SWAT team reached outside the classroom, shouting, “OK open up” and then they opened the door.
The nine-year-old was escorted out of the building along with his classmates, however, he witnessed terrible visuals on the way. “We saw a bunch of bad stuff, people laying down and yeah, bad stuff,” Shanah said, a phrase that he seemingly used to refer to the victim’s bodies.
“My legs were shaking and my hands and my head were like hurting a lot. I felt like a rock," said Shanah, whose mother emigrated from war-torn Gaza and settled in Southern California a couple of decades ago.
He also recalled seeing police officers force open the door of an adjacent classroom after the shooting stopped, while SWAT teams cleared the building room by room.
Students evacuated with raised hands after gunfire ceased
"They told us to put our hands up and form a big line," the nine-year-old said as he saw another group of younger students forming line to get evacuated first before his class. The shooters had not entered the mosque premises and all students at Bright Horizon Academy were safe, according to officials.
Police confirmed the three men killed in the shooting were connected to the Islamic Center, among them a security guard whom authorities credited for helping prevent an even deadlier attack. The three victims were shot outside the mosque by two teenage suspects, who later died by suicide several blocks from the scene.
The shooting was certainly a major shock for Shanah's mother, who fled Gaza for the United States in 2006, the years when the region witnessed months-long fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants. Her father moved to the US from Jordan in 2015.
(With inputs from Reuters)
