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Four Muslim men have been murdered in Albuqurque in the past 9 months, in what New Mexico authorities believe may potentially be a series of interlinked hate crimes.
Two men from Pakistan who attended the same mosque were shot within a week of each other.
As per NPR, the last victim was a South Asian man, who was later identified by local outlets as Naeem Hussain. All the male Muslim victims were killed with a firearm.
Kyle Harsock, the Deputy Commander of the Albuquerque Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division, said that authorities believe the killings could have been committed by a serial killer, though they have not yet confirmed whether or not the suspected gunman is driven by Islamophobic motivations.
He said:
“Our homicide detectives and our investigators currently believe there is a strong possibility that the same individual committed all three of these crimes. ”
He added:
“While we won’t go into why we think that, there’s one strong commonality in all of our victims, their race and religion.”
In response to the killings, journalist and cultural commentator Sana Saeed spoke out against the attacks on Twitter.
She said:
“This is terrifying - what is going on? A fourth Muslim man has been found murdered in New Mexico following what clearly appear to be targeted killings of Muslim men.”
Why do New Mexico authorities suspect a serial killer?
The first victim linked to the suspected serial killer was Mohammed Ahmadi, a 62-year-old Pakistani-American New Mexico man who was killed in November 2021.
Suspicions began to emerge last week after the killings of two more Muslim men in the span of just a few days. The victims were identified as 27-year-old Muhammed Afzaal Hussain and 41-year-old Aftab Hussein, both men of Pakistani origins who went to the same mosque.
Harscock claimed that the last three killings followed a similar pattern, though he has not commented on the initial murder in November.
He said:
“(In each case the shooter) ambushed the victims with no warning, fired shots, and killed them.”
According to Reuters, the serial killer theory emerged after a vehicle of interest was identified as being a commonality among the four killings. The gray or silver 4-doored vehicle is believed to be a Volkswagen Jetta.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller commented on the vehicle of interest at a press conference on Sunday.
He said:
"We have a very, very strong link. We have a vehicle of interest. ... We have got to find this vehicle."
Harold Medina, the Albuquerque Police Chief, condemned the killings at the Sunday press conference.
He said:
“These shootings are disturbing. We are putting every possible resource into these investigations."
Michelle Lujan, the governor of New Mexico, assured the public that authorities had prioritized the investigation.
She said:
"We will bring this person or these persons to justice."
The case remains under investigation. Authorities have not yet identified any potential suspects.
