His name was Amin Abdullah.
I need to tell you about something that happened this week. Something I'm still processing.
On Monday, I was at a local range training with members of an active shooter response team. Armed security professionals. Some of the most capable people I know. We were running drills, reloads, transitions, and drawing under stress. Preparing for scenarios we hope never happen.
While we were training for it, it was happening.
A hate-motivated attack unfolded at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Clairemont. Two young men, 17 and 18 years old, radicalized online by hatred, opened fire on a house of worship. A place of prayer. A place where 140 children were gathered that morning.
Three people were killed.
I want you to know their names.
Amin Abdullah — Security Guard
Amin was the first to engage the attackers. Outside the building. Before they could reach anyone inside.
According to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl, while Amin was exchanging gunfire with the two armed attackers, he was simultaneously calling in on his radio, initiating lockdown of the mosque. He wasn't just fighting. He was thinking. Under fire. With two shooters in front of him.
His actions of engaging, communicating, and delaying are directly credited by the police chief with preventing the attackers from reaching the greater areas of the mosque. Areas where 140 children were gathered. Fifteen feet from where the suspects reached.
Amin Abdullah is the reason those children went home to their families.
The Imam of the Islamic Center, Taha Hassane, described Amin as a "lovely person" who "never stops smiling to anyone, our community members as well as our visitors."
That's who stood between those attackers and 140 kids. A man who never stopped smiling.
Mansour Kaziha — Community Elder
Mansour had been part of the Islamic Center since 1986, since the community broke ground to build it. The Imam called him "our elder." He was the handyman, the cook, the caretaker. "He was everything," Hassane said. "I don't know what I'm going to do without his assistance."
Mansour was also the first person to call 911.
Nadir Awad — Community Member
Nadir lived across the street from the Islamic Center. His wife is a teacher at the Islamic school. He was there every single day for prayers. Every single day.
Both Mansour and Nadir were cornered by the attackers in the parking lot after the suspects exited the building. They were unable to flee.
Mansour Kaziha, Amin Abdullah and Nadir Awad.
Why I'm writing this to you.
I work in armed security. I train for exactly what Amin Abdullah faced on Monday. I was literally on a range practicing for it when it happened in my city.
That reality has been sitting on my chest for days.
It's one thing to run drills. To practice reloads and talk through scenarios with other professionals. It's something else entirely to know that while you were training, a man who does what you do was living it, and giving his life so that 140 children could live theirs.
I started Model Civilian because I believe everyday people deserve to be prepared. Capable. Aware. Not paranoid, just ready enough to protect the people they love.
But this week taught me something I want to be honest about:
Being a Model Civilian is bigger than preparedness.
It's about standing against the hatred that caused this. It's about recognizing that an attack on any community, any house of worship, any neighborhood, any group of people gathered in peace, is an attack on all of us. It's about being the kind of person who doesn't look away.
Amin Abdullah didn't look away. Mansour Kaziha didn't look away, he picked up the phone and called for help. Nadir Awad didn't look away, he was simply there, as he was every single day, being part of his community.
That's what being a capable, present, engaged civilian looks like. Sometimes it's tactical skills. Sometimes it's just showing up.
What's ahead.
Later this week, I'm going to share some of the most practical things I know about civilian preparedness, how to respond in an active threat situation, how to build situational awareness, and how to have an emergency plan with your family.
Not because the world is ending. Not to make you afraid. Because the people you love are worth being ready for. And because Amin Abdullah showed us what it looks like when preparation meets the moment.
But today isn't about that. Today is about three men who deserved to come home. And a community that is grieving.
If this resonated with you:
Forward this email to one person. Not for me. Not for the brand. Because someone in your life needs to read these names and understand what happened. That's how we push back against hatred, by refusing to let it be anonymous, forgettable, or normal.
Stay capable. Stay kind. Stand with your neighbors.
— Colin Lepiscopo
Founder, Model Civilian
10% of all proceeds at modelcivilian.com go to We Get Water , because being a capable civilian means caring about communities beyond your own. 🤍