A 51-year-old man from Afghanistan was charged Tuesday with killing two Muslim males in Albuquerque, N.M., and authorities stated he’s suspected within the slayings of two others whose deaths sparked concern in Muslim communities nationwide.
Officers introduced the arrest of Muhammad Syed a day after he was taken into custody.
Naeem Hussain, 25, initially from Pakistan, was killed Friday evening. His demise got here simply days after these of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41, who had been additionally of Pakistani descent and members of the identical mosque.
The primary recognized sufferer, Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, a local of Afghanistan, was killed on Nov. 7, 2021, whereas smoking a cigarette exterior a grocery retailer and cafe that he ran together with his brother within the southeastern a part of town.
Syed was formally charged with two of the homicides: these of Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, 27, killed on July 26 and Aug. 1, respectively, however he’s thought-about a suspect in all 4 murders, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina stated at a information convention.
When advised concerning the announcement, Muhammad Imtiaz Hussain, the brother of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, stated he felt relieved however wanted to know extra concerning the suspect and the motive.
“This provides us hope that we are going to have (the) reality come out,” he stated. “We have to know why.”
Bullet casings hyperlink 2 killings, police say
Prosecutors anticipate to file homicide costs in state court docket and are contemplating including a federal case, authorities stated.
Police stated the 2 killings with which Syed was initially charged had been tied collectively primarily based on bullet shell casings discovered on the homicide scenes. The investigation branched out from there.
Based on police, detectives had been making ready to go looking Syed’s dwelling in southeastern Albuquerque on Monday when he drove from the residence within the automobile that investigators had recognized to the general public a day earlier as a “car of curiosity.”
He was pulled over and brought into custody alongside Interstate 40 in Santa Rosa, about 177 kilometres east of Albuquerque.
Along with recovering a number of firearms from the suspect’s dwelling, detectives “found proof that exhibits the offender knew the victims to some extent, and an interpersonal battle might have led to the shootings,” police stated in an announcement.
The motive and precise nature of the relationships between Syed and the victims – and the victims to 1 one other – remained unclear. However police continued to research how they crossed paths earlier than the shootings.
Police are additionally investigating whether or not Sunni-Shia tensions fuelled Syed’s violence or if he was motivated by different concepts.
“The motives are nonetheless being explored totally to grasp what they’re,” Deputy Police Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock stated.
Neighborhood shocked, afraid
Investigators obtained ideas from town’s Muslim neighborhood that pointed them towards Syed, who arrived within the U.S. someday within the final a number of years, police stated.
The ambush-style shootings of the boys terrified Albuquerque’s Muslim neighborhood. Households went into hiding of their houses, and a few Pakistani college students on the College of New Mexico left city out of concern.
“It is fairly surprising,” Aneela Abad, normal secretary on the Islamic Middle of New Mexico, stated of the arrest. “We’re nonetheless making an attempt to understand.”
She stated she believed the suspect attended her mosque and that he had additionally been to different mosques.
Requested about doable Sunni-Shia tensions, she stated: “We do not wish to create that chaos about Shia and Sunni.” She stated the suspect’s “private agenda” is “what induced this complete chaos.”
