US Sees Series of Shootings Amid Hate Crime and Terror Probes

The United States has been hit by a series of fatal shootings in recent months, with authorities investigating some cases as possible acts of terrorism or hate crimes.

Most recently, three people were killed in an attack on an Islamic center in San Diego, California, according to NZZ. Police identified the suspected attackers as two teenagers, aged 17 and 19, who were later found dead in a car in the parking lot in what authorities believe was a suicide. Because the target was a religious institution that includes a mosque and a school, police are treating the attack as a hate crime for now.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also examining whether a March shooting at Old Dominion University in Virginia was an act of terrorism. The gunman killed one person and wounded two others before he was killed at the scene. FBI Director Kash Patel said students who intervened before police arrived helped prevent further loss of life.

Other recent incidents include a mass shooting at a bar in Austin, Texas, where three people were killed and 14 others injured. An FBI investigator said it was too early to identify a motive, but that there were indications of a possible link to terrorism. In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, three people died in a shooting during a high school hockey game, with police saying the incident may have stemmed from a family dispute.

In one of the most high-profile cases, a court in Georgia found the father of a teenage school shooter guilty of second-degree murder. It was the first such conviction of a parent of a minor school shooter in the United States. Prosecutors accused the father of allowing his son to possess the weapon despite knowing that he posed a danger to himself and others.

(max)