HOUSTON, Aug 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A 51-year-old man was detained and charged yesterday, for murdering at least two of four Muslim men, who were killed in separate ambush shootings, in the past nine months in Albuquerque, the largest city of south western U.S. state of New Mexico, authorities said.
Muhammad Syed, 51, was identified as the “primary suspect in the recent murders of Muslim men,” Albuquerque police said yesterday.
Syed was charged with murdering Aftab Hussein on Jul 26, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, on Aug 1. Detectives connected the two cases using bullet casings found at the two scenes, according to a CBS News report.
Authorities believe the suspect may eventually be charged in the other two murders of Naeem Hussain on Aug 5, and Mohammed Zaher Ahmadi on Nov 7, last year, said the report.
The suspect appears to know his victims, police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.
It remains unclear the specific motive for the killings.
The police have “tracked down the vehicle believed to be involved in a recent murder of a Muslim man in Albuquerque,” the city’s police chief, Harold Medina, tweeted yesterday. “The driver was detained and he is our primary suspect for the murders.”
Four Muslim men were killed in ambush shootings in the city since Nov, and three of them were shot dead in 10 days, drawing national and international attention.
Albuquerque is on pace for another record-setting year of homicides, according to local media reports.– NNN-AGENCIES
