NOVANEWS
KTVU.com
FREMONT, Calif. —
Members of a Fremont mosque were shaken after a man entered the building Wednesday then threatened everyone inside.
Police said a man walked into the Ibrahim Khalillullah Islamic Center on Osgood Road Wednesday during afternoon prayer and said he had a gun and threatened to kill everyone inside.
The people inside asked him to leave and he left peacefully, but he remains on the run.
The center’s leaders told KTVU they’ve never had anything like that happen before.
“We are a little worried because of the situation that happened in Oregon,” said Fareed Wardak, a board of director’s member. “We don’t want the same thing to happen.”
The center has been in the city for two decades and is made up of 500 members, mostly of Afghan decent, who attend it for prayer and education.
“We’re not sure what kind of person showed up,” Wardak said. “We do have surveillance cameras. We’ll be getting pictures out of that system.”
Police said they’re not sure if the threat was based on religion. Members of the center also have questions.
“It’s Christmas, people are going back and forth,” said Mohammed Zarabi, president of the board of directors. “Maybe he needs some money. I can’t say what his intention was. I just hope it doesn’t happen again.”
Police said they don’t have a lot of information on the man aside from him being in his 30s and possibly driving a 1990s gray Toyota Camry.
Officers will be doing extra patrols looking for anything suspicious.
Investigators are not calling this a hate crime, but a suspicious circumstance.
Police said a man walked into the Ibrahim Khalillullah Islamic Center on Osgood Road Wednesday during afternoon prayer and said he had a gun and threatened to kill everyone inside.
The people inside asked him to leave and he left peacefully, but he remains on the run.
The center’s leaders told KTVU they’ve never had anything like that happen before.
“We are a little worried because of the situation that happened in Oregon,” said Fareed Wardak, a board of director’s member. “We don’t want the same thing to happen.”
The center has been in the city for two decades and is made up of 500 members, mostly of Afghan decent, who attend it for prayer and education.
“We’re not sure what kind of person showed up,” Wardak said. “We do have surveillance cameras. We’ll be getting pictures out of that system.”
Police said they’re not sure if the threat was based on religion. Members of the center also have questions.
“It’s Christmas, people are going back and forth,” said Mohammed Zarabi, president of the board of directors. “Maybe he needs some money. I can’t say what his intention was. I just hope it doesn’t happen again.”
Police said they don’t have a lot of information on the man aside from him being in his 30s and possibly driving a 1990s gray Toyota Camry.
Officers will be doing extra patrols looking for anything suspicious.
Investigators are not calling this a hate crime, but a suspicious circumstance.
