Suspected Arson Attack at California Mosque

A suspicious fire being was being investigated at a mosque in Coachella, California, Friday.

Cal Fire responded and was able to extinguish the fire in about 35 minutes and no injuries were reported. ABC affiliate station KESQ-TV said officials of the mosque saw someone toss a Molotov cocktail at the front of the structure.

The FBI and the Riverside Sheriff’s Department are trying to determine if the fire was set deliberately, according to the FBI. Mohammed Aowishah, who attends the mosque, said several people were inside the building at the time.

The incident comes nine days after a mass shooting by a radicalized Muslim couple at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, where 14 people were killed and 21 others were injured.

Several worshippers gathered outside the mosque in Coachella on Friday expressed fear.

NBC4 has reached out to the Council on American-Islamic Relations for comment on the fire.

The mosque was hit by gunfire in November 2014 in what authorities investigated as a possible hate crime.

“We’re a peaceful people”, Salaam said of the Muslim community.