Suspect in killing of 4 Muslim males arrested in New Mexico | World News

Police in New Mexico on Tuesday arrested a person they referred to as their prime suspect within the deadly shootings of 4 Muslim males in Albuquerque since November, a collection of ambush killings which have shaken the Islamic group within the state's largest metropolis.

Police credited ideas from the general public in serving to investigators find a automobile that detectives believed was utilized in at the very least one of many killings and in the end monitor down the suspect, recognized as Muhammad Syed, 51, an Albuquerque resident.

Syed was formally charged with two of the homicides: these of Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, 27, killed on July 26 and August 1, respectively, however he's thought of a suspect in all 4 murders, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina mentioned at a information convention.

The most recent sufferer, Nayeem Hussain, 25, a truck driver who turned a US citizen on July 8, was killed on Friday, hours after attending the burial of the 2 males slain in July and August, each of them of Pakistani descent.

The primary recognized sufferer, Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, a local of Afghanistan, was killed on November 7, 2021, whereas smoking a cigarette outdoors a grocery retailer and cafe that he ran together with his brother within the southeastern a part of town.

Police mentioned the 2 killings with which Syed was initially charged had been tied collectively primarily based on bullet shell casings discovered on the two homicide scenes, and the investigation branched out from there.

Based on police, detectives had been getting ready to look 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 "automobile of curiosity."

Along with recovering a number of firearms from the suspect's dwelling, detectives "found proof that reveals the offender knew the victims to some extent, and an interpersonal battle might have led to the shootings," police mentioned in an announcement.

Albuquerque and state authorities have been working to supply additional police presence at mosques throughout occasions of prayer because the investigation proceeded within the metropolis, dwelling to as many as 5,000 Muslims out of a complete inhabitants of 565,000.

The ambush-style shootings of the boys, all of Pakistani or Afghan descent, have terrified Albuquerque's Muslim group. Households went into hiding of their properties, and a few Pakistani college students on the College of New Mexico left city out of worry.

Imtiaz Hussain, whose brother labored as a metropolis planning director and was killed on August 1, mentioned information of the arrest reassured many within the Muslim group.

"My children requested me, 'Can we sit on our balcony now?' and I mentioned, 'Sure,' they usually mentioned, 'Can we exit and play now?' and I mentioned, 'Sure,'" he mentioned.

The three most up-to-date victims all attended the Islamic Heart of New Mexico, Albuquerque's largest mosque. They had been all shot close to Central Avenue in southeastern Albuquerque.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller thanked native, state and federal legislation enforcement for his or her work on the case.

"We hope their swift motion brings an elevated sense of security for thus many who're experiencing worry from the latest shootings," he mentioned in an announcement.

The style wherein the victims had been killed advised to family that the murders had been hate crimes.