Odai Shanah, whose mother emigrated from Gaza and settled in southern California two decades ago, told Reuters that he heard a barrage of gunshots coming from outside the walls of the mosque complex, which also houses an Islamic day school.

He recounted being among dozens of children forced to huddle in classrooms when deadly gunfire erupted at the mosque.

Odai said he and his classmates were trembling in fear as 12 to 16 more shots rang out after they were quickly ushered into that closet and crowded there together.

After the shooting stopped, the boy said, he and his companions heard members of a special tactical police team shouting from outside the classroom, “‘OK, open up’ – then they opened the door”.

But as they were escorted out of the building, “we saw a bunch of bad stuff, people laying down and yeah, bad stuff”, Odai said. He acknowledged meaning that he and the other children had seen bodies as they walked out in “a big line” with their hands up.