Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller speaks to an interfaith memorial ceremony at the New Mexico Islamic Center mosque to commemorate four murdered Muslim men, hours after police said they had arrested a prime suspect in the killings, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. August 9, 2022. REUTERS
TAOS, New Mexico 鈥� Police in New Mexico on Tuesday arrested a man they called their prime suspect in the fatal shootings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque since November, a series of ambush killings that have shaken the Islamic community in the state鈥檚 largest city.
Police credited tips from the public in helping investigators locate a car that detectives believed was used in at least one of the killings and ultimately track down the suspect, identified as Muhammad Syed, 51, an Albuquerque resident.
Syed was formally charged with two of the homicides: those of Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, 27, killed on July 26 and Aug. 1, respectively, but he is considered a suspect in all four murders, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said at a news conference.
The latest victim, Nayeem Hussain, 25, a truck driver who became a U.S. citizen on July 8, was killed on Friday, hours after attending the burial of the two men slain in July and August, both of them of Pakistani descent.
The first known victim, Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, a native of Afghanistan, was killed on Nov. 7, 2021, while smoking a cigarette outside a grocery store and cafe that he ran with his brother in the southeastern part of the city.
Police said the two killings with which Syed was initially charged were tied together based on bullet shell casings found at the two murder scenes, and the investigation branched out from there.
Participants in an interfaith memorial ceremony enter the New Mexico Islamic Center mosque to commemorate four murdered Muslim men, hours after police said they had arrested a prime suspect in the killings, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. August 9, 2022. REUTERS
According to police, detectives were preparing to search Syed鈥檚 home in southeastern Albuquerque on Monday when he drove from the residence in the car that investigators had identified to the public a day earlier as a 鈥渧ehicle of interest.鈥�
In addition to recovering multiple firearms from the suspect鈥檚 home, detectives 鈥渄iscovered evidence that shows the offender knew the victims to some extent, and an interpersonal conflict may have led to the shootings,鈥� police said in a statement.
Albuquerque and state authorities have been working to provide extra police presence at mosques during times of prayer as the investigation proceeded in the city, home to as many as 5,000 Muslims out of a total population of 565,000.
The ambush-style shootings of the men, all of Pakistani or Afghan descent, have terrified Albuquerque鈥檚 Muslim community. Families went into hiding in their homes, and some Pakistani students at the University of New Mexico left town out of fear.
Imtiaz Hussain, whose brother worked as a city planning director and was killed on Aug. 1, said news of the arrest reassured many in the Muslim community.
鈥淢y kids asked me, 鈥楥an we sit on our balcony now?鈥� and I said, 鈥榊es,鈥� and they said, 鈥楥an we go out and play now?鈥� and I said, 鈥榊es,'鈥� he said.
The three most recent victims all attended the Islamic Center of New Mexico, Albuquerque鈥檚 largest mosque. They were all shot near Central Avenue in southeastern Albuquerque.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller thanked local, state and federal law enforcement for their work on the case.
鈥淲e hope their swift action brings an increased sense of safety for so many who are experiencing fear from the recent shootings,鈥� he said in a statement.
The manner in which the victims were killed suggested to relatives that the murders were hate crimes.
鈥淭here is some extreme hatred in the mind of the shooter,鈥� said Hussain.
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