A 9-year-old boy who survived the deadly shooting at a San Diego mosque described the terrifying scene outside his classroom as police rushed frightened children to safety through areas lined with bloodied bodies.
For Odai Shanah’s family, the violence carried a particularly painful weight.
His mother fled Gaza in 2006 during intense fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants before eventually building a new life in Southern California. Years later, Odai’s father immigrated to the United States from Jordan in 2015, Reuters reports.
After escaping conflict overseas in search of safety, the family suddenly found themselves caught in another horrifying act of violence inside the community they now called home.
Despite the trauma surrounding the deadly attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the 9-year-old’s parents gave permission for their son to speak publicly about his experience in hopes of helping others understand the emotional toll the shooting had on children inside the mosque school.
Teens open fire outside mosque
Odai was among dozens of students attending classes inside Bright Horizon Academy, the school located within the Islamic Center of San Diego, when gunfire suddenly erupted outside the mosque complex on May 18.
Police later said three men affiliated with the Islamic Center were killed after two teenage suspects – Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18 – opened fire outside the building before later dying by suicide several blocks away.
Children huddled in closet
Inside the school, students and teachers scrambled for safety as the sound of gunshots echoed through the property.
According to Odai, teachers quickly rushed children into a classroom closet where they huddled together while more rounds rang out nearby.
“My legs were shaking and my hands and my head were like hurting a lot,” Odai said, describing his fear.
The child said he heard between 12 and 16 additional shots after they hid.
As fear spread through the classroom, heavily armed SWAT officers moved through the building searching for threats and securing the area.
At one point, Odai recalled hearing officers shouting from outside the door.
“‘OK, open up,’ then they opened the door,” he said.
‘Felt like a rock’
Authorities later confirmed the gunmen never entered the interior sections of the mosque complex, and every child inside the school survived physically unharmed.
Still, Odai’s description of those moments revealed just how deeply the violence shook the children trapped inside.
“I felt like a rock,” he said while describing the fear that overwhelmed him during the shooting.
‘We saw a bunch of bad stuff’
After police secured the mosque, officers started evacuating students room by room.
Odai said officers instructed the children to raise their hands and form a line while younger students were escorted separately to safety.
“They told us to put our hands up and form a big line,” he recalled.
While walking through the property, the young boy said he saw disturbing scenes no child should ever witness.
“[W]e saw a bunch of bad stuff, people laying down and yeah, bad stuff,” he said, referring to the victims’ bodies outside the mosque.
His firsthand account has since become one of the clearest descriptions of the confusion and terror children experienced while hiding inside classrooms as gunfire erupted outside.
Community mourns after deadly attack
The shooting sent shockwaves through the Islamic Center and surrounding San Diego community, where many families viewed the mosque and school as a place of peace, worship, and safety.
Authorities said one of the victims, a security guard working at the Islamic Center, likely prevented even greater bloodshed by stopping the attackers before they could reach the children inside the building.
That detail has only deepened the grief felt by worshippers and local residents mourning the lives lost.
Meanwhile, many families continue helping children process the trauma left behind by the attack, including memories of gunfire, police evacuations, and the heartbreaking scenes waiting outside the classrooms.
For Odai, those images remain impossible to forget.
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