Frum Dentist Killed, 2 People Injured in Shooting at SoCal Dentist Office

By Hamodia Staff

A frum dentist was killed and two other people injured in a shooting in El Cajon, Calif., 15 miles east of San Diego.

Fox 5 San Diego reports that police received calls about an active shooting inside Smile Plus Dentistry and Orthodontics at 480 North Magnolia Avenue around 4:15 p.m.

One victim, a dentist identified as Dr. Benjamin Harouni, died at the scene. The other two, a man in his 40s and woman in her 20s, are in stable condition.

Journalist Steven Nabil tweeted, “The shooter was a former patient at the clinic, he went back with a gun and started shooting at the staff, killed a dentist and injured the office manager and a female front desk employee,” Nabil wrote on X. “His brother warned that an attack is imminent and the police went to a different dentistry in Santee and locked it down earlier.”

At 9:04 p.m., El Cajon police tweeted a photo of the suspect and identified him as Mohammed Abdulkareem, 29. Less than an hour later, police said he was taken into custody.

Police say that the shooter was a disgruntled patient, and do not believe the motive to be antisemitism-related.