A Muslim man from Afghanistan was charged with killing two other Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, authorities said, and he is suspected in two similar killings that caused fear in Muslim communities nationwide.
After Muhammad Syed was taken into custody, officials announced his arrest.
The suspect in one of the killings in New Mexico's largest city has been found, according to the police chief.
He said that the driver was the main suspect in the murders.
Police said they got tips from the city's Muslim community that pointed to Syed.
The relationship between Syed and the victims remained unclear. Police were still investigating how they crossed paths.
Police said in a news release that there was evidence that showed the offenders knew the victims and that an altercation may have led to the shooting.
President Joe Biden said the killings had no place in America. Some people in the Muslim community questioned their safety and limited their movements.
Muhammad Imtiaz Hussain, brother of one of the victims, wanted to know more about the suspect and the motive when he was told about the announcement.
He said that this gave them hope that the truth would come out. We need to understand why.
Syed did not have an attorney who could speak for him.
Naeem Hussain was one of the men who died. The last two weeks saw three killings.
The man was from Pakistan. His death came just days after the deaths of two other people from Pakistan in the same mosque.
The killing of a man from Afghanistan took place in November.
The police chief doesn't know if the deaths should be referred to as hate crimes or serial killings.
He said that there was no indication that either incident or topic would have been appropriate.
Syed was charged with two counts of first degree murder because of the gun found at his home that was linked to the shooting deaths of two people.
Syed is believed to be the primary suspect in the deaths of Naeem Hussain and Mohammad Zaher Ahmadi.
Police are trying to determine if Syed was motivated by other ideas or if he was driven by Sunni-Shiite tensions.
The motives are still being explored.
Police said they were about to search Syed's home on Monday when they saw him drive away in a car that they believe was used in at least one of the killings.
Syed was pulled over in a traffic stop after officers followed him to SantaRosa. Police recovered multiple firearms from his house and car.
Authorities said that Syed's sons were questioned and released.
Murder charges are expected to be filed in state court and a federal case could be added.
Aneela Abad is general secretary at the Islamic Center of New Mexico. We are not quite comprehended.
She said that the suspect had been to other mosques as well.
She said that they don't want to cause chaos about Shiite and Sunni. The suspect has a personal agenda, she said.
She said that the two Muslim communities in New Mexico have good relations. The Shiite and Sunni communities have always been there for each other.
According to FBI data, there have been few anti-Muslim hate crimes in Albuquerque over the last five years.
There was only one anti-Muslim hate crime over the course of the last three years. Six out of 25 hate crimes were recorded by Albuquerque police.
In a dozen cities and states, the national trends went from the lowest numbers in a decade in 2020 to an increase in 2021.
Police were called to the scene of a shooting and found a dead person. The authorities wouldn't say if the killing was similar to the others.
The Democratic Representative Melanie Stansbury had a field organizers named Muhammad Afzaal Hussain.
She described him as a city planner who believed in democracy and social change, and who believed that we could build a brighter future for our communities.
That's right.
Dazio was from Los Angeles and Fam was from Florida. Lindsay Whitehurst is a writer for the Associated Press in Washington.
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