2024-05-17 11:47:28
Albuquerque guy charged in killings of two Muslim males knew them, police say - Democratic Voice USA
Albuquerque guy charged in killings of two Muslim males knew them, police say


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The guy charged within the killings of 2 Muslim males this summer season in Albuquerque knew the sufferers, in keeping with court docket information.

Muhammad Atif Syed, 51, was once charged with two counts of homicide within the killings of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41. An investigation is ongoing into whether or not Syed was once concerned within the killings of 2 different Muslim males within the house.

Killings sow fear and panic in Albuquerque’s Muslim community

Syed was once arrested Monday after government trailed him from a Costco to his Albuquerque house, the place they discovered a Volkswagen Jetta matching the outline of the automobile that police had instructed the general public to stay look ahead to.

Syed left the house within the Jetta prior to government detained him in Santa Rosa, N.M., about midway between Albuquerque and the Texas border. He instructed officials that he was once riding to Houston “to discover a new position for his circle of relatives to reside since the state of affairs in Albuquerque was once dangerous” and discussed the new shootings of Muslims, in keeping with the court docket information.

The shootings — a string of four killings within the past year, 3 of which befell in a 10-day span — had rocked Albuquerque’s 5,000-strong Muslim neighborhood. Some closed companies early, refused to move out after darkish and stopped going to day by day prayers at a mosque, the Islamic Center of New Mexico, the place armed guards have been put in. At least 3 of the shootings adopted a trend wherein the sufferer was once ambushed and left for lifeless, police stated.

In the killing of Hussein final month, police stated the shooter had lurked in a bush close to a driveway, looking forward to Hussein to park and go out his automobile, at which level he was once shot “throughout the bush more than one occasions.” Police discovered firearms in Syed’s house and automobile, Deputy Police Commander Kyle Hartsock stated at a news conference Tuesday, together with a minimum of one that fits bullet casings discovered on the scenes of 2 killings.

In an interview with a detective at Albuquerque police headquarters, Syed stated he had identified Hussain since 2016 and knew of Hussein from “events locally.” Both sufferers have been common individuals on the mosque, the middle’s spokesman, Tahir Gauba, instructed The Washington Post. (Though the lads percentage a an identical surname, they weren’t similar, Gauba stated.)

The police stated “an interpersonal battle will have resulted in the shootings.”

Syed has denied having any involvement within the killings, police stated. His daughter instructed KRQE, a neighborhood tv information station: “I consider they’re going to liberate my father. He didn’t do anything else.”

His daughter and spouse instructed the station that they knew 3 of the sufferers however that Syed was once now not liable for the killings. Shaheen Syed, the elder Syed’s son, instructed police he was once acutely aware of the shootings however was once now not concerned.

The elder Syed instructed government that he and his son would infrequently move to the desolate tract to shoot his AK-47 — an job he described to the police as “looking” — and that he favored the weapon as a result of he had one in Afghanistan. He instructed police that he had fought the Taliban there.

Source Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/08/11/new-mexico-killing-muslim-muhammad-syed/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_national

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