Crime & Safety
Note Taped to Islamic Center in Murrieta Posed No Criminal Threat, Police Say
Murrieta police have since facilitated a meeting with the person who left the note referring to terror attacks in Kenya and Pakistan that was found Sunday taped to Islamic Center of Temecula Valley on Hobie Circle.
The person who taped an anonymous note on the door of the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley has come forward, according to Murrieta police.
Members of the congregation reported the out-of-place note at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, at the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley’s current location on Hobie Circle in Murrieta, according to Murrieta police Lt. Jon Flavin.
“Pray for the victims of al-Shabaab...WE ARE WATCHING...Pray for the Christians in Pakistan. He is listening,” the note said, according to a photo on The Press-Enterprise.
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The note was likely referring to a terror attack Sept. 21 on a mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in which 67 people—including Americans—were killed and many more injured. A number of people were taken as hostages by the attackers, believed to be Somali Islamist group al Shabaab.
The note also referenced suicide bombings the same day near a Christian church in the Pakistan city of Peshawar that has left at least 85 people dead as of Monday.
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Flavin said officers responded when the note was discovered, took a report and turned it over to the department’s detective bureau.
Due to an article that ran in The Press-Enterprise, Flavin said the person who wrote it had since come forward.
“As a result of the story, the subject that left the note made contact, detectives interviewed him and...they were going to facilitate a meeting between the center and him,” Flavin told Patch.
“So there is no real criminal investigation going on,” Flavin said.
The Islamic Center of Temecula Valley is constructing a mosque on Nicolas Road in Temecula. In the meantime, the congregation of about 100 families has been gathering since 2011 in leased space in Murrieta.
Reached Friday, Murrieta police detective Lt. Tony Conrad confirmed that the meeting between the person who left the note and a representative of the Islamic Center took place Thursday.
“The note was determined to not be a criminal threat but it was concerning to the Islamic Center and because of that they called us,” Conrad said.
“Then when the person that drafted the note called us he asked to speak with the Islamic Center because he didn’t want the note to be perceived as threatening,” the lieutenant said.
“He expressed some interest in the Muslim religion and (they) offered to give him a Quran.”The center issued a statement Monday, according to The Press-Enterprise, condemning the attacks in Kenya as well as in Pakistan.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., issued this statement regarding the Kenya mall attacks:
"We strongly condemn this cowardly attack by al-Shabab and offer condolences to the loved ones of those killed or injured. Our nation should offer whatever assistance we can to Kenyan authorities as they seek to free the hostages and bring to justice all those responsible for this heinous crime."
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