‘It doesn’t feel real’: witnesses describe shock and disbelief after San Diego mosque attack

Friends, family and strangers are reeling after latest mass shooting, an attack being investigated as hate crime

Maya, 13, stood just beyond the yellow police tape, watching as waves of heavily armed police officers locked down the area around the mosque. Hours before, three people had been shot and killed at the Islamic Center of San Diego: the largest mosque in the county, and an important neighborhood gathering spot and place of worship for Maya's family and many others.

The seventh-grader, whose mother gave her permission to speak to the media, tapped her nails nervously against her phone. Her teeth chattered in the 70-degree California heat. The gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in in real time, as more people gathered at the scene.