CNN
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The person accused of fatally taking pictures two Muslim males in Albuquerque appeared in courtroom for the primary time Wednesday as investigators continued to seek for a motive and probe whether or not he’s linked to 2 different killings.
Muhammad Syed, 51, of Albuquerque, is the first suspect within the killings of 4 Muslim males within the metropolis between November and August, based on police.
He’s being held on homicide fees in two of the homicides: the July 26 killing of 41-year-old Aftab Hussein and the August 1 killing of 27-year-old Muhammad Afzaal Hussain.
Syed denied any involvement within the killings throughout an interview with police on Tuesday, based on an arrest affidavit.
Syed was arrested Tuesday following suggestions from the general public, authorities mentioned. He was stopped by police whereas driving close to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, greater than 100 miles east of Albuquerque.
Authorities discovered firearms throughout a search of his dwelling, in addition to info displaying Syed might have recognized the victims “to some extent” and that interpersonal battle might have led to the killings, police mentioned Tuesday
One of many firearms recovered has been linked to bullet casings discovered on the scenes of two of the killings, whereas casings for a handgun present in his automotive when he was stopped had been linked to one of many scenes, based on the arrest affidavit.
Syed instructed police “he was driving to Texas to discover a new place for his household to reside as a result of the scenario in Albuquerque was dangerous,” referring to the killing of Muslim males, the affidavit mentioned.
On Wednesday, he appeared in courtroom through video from a detention heart.
By means of a Pashto interpreter, he requested to handle the courtroom throughout his listening to. His lawyer Megan Mitsunaga adopted up asking the courtroom to not take statements from her shopper.
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court docket Decide Renée Torres additionally suggested Syed that remaining silent can be one of the best factor for him to do. “Sounds good,” Syed mentioned in response.
Syed’s case shall be transferred to a district courtroom. He’s being held with out bond within the meantime.
In saying Syed’s arrest Tuesday, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina mentioned the division is working with the district lawyer’s workplace on potential fees within the deaths of the 2 different males, 62-year-old Mohammad Zaher Ahmadi, killed November 7, and 25-year-old Naeem Hussain, killed August 5 after attending a funeral for the 2 different victims.
There’s proof “robust sufficient that” authorities are persevering with to view Syed because the “almost definitely particular person of curiosity or suspect” in these killings as properly, Kyle Hartsock, deputy commander of the town police division’s prison investigation division, mentioned Tuesday.
The killings that Syed is being charged with – of Aftab Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain – occurred simply days aside and police shortly linked them after figuring out that casings discovered at each crime scenes had been probably fired from the identical firearm, Hartsock mentioned.
“We shortly began different instances that could possibly be related and establish that there is likely to be a very lively public menace,” Hartsock added.
That’s when police turned their consideration to a unique unsolved murder within the metropolis: the November 7 killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, an Afghan man who was discovered with a gunshot wound within the car parking zone behind the enterprise he ran together with his brother.
All three of the killings concerned Muslim males who had been “ambushed with no warning, fired on and killed,” Hartsock mentioned.
Aftab Hussein was discovered July 26 with a number of gunshot wounds, mendacity subsequent to a automotive, based on police. Detectives realized the gunman had waited behind a bush close to the driveway the place the sufferer often parked his car and fired a number of occasions by means of the bush, based on the criticism.
Muhammud Afzaal Hussain was discovered on August 1 with a number of gunshot wounds by officers who responded to experiences of a drive-by taking pictures, the criticism states.
Whereas police had been nonetheless making an attempt to piece collectively whether or not the three killings had been linked, a fourth Muslim man, Naeem Hussain, was shot and killed earlier than midnight on August 5.
The shootings precipitated panic inside Albuquerque’s Muslim group, whereas additionally triggering tons of of tricks to regulation enforcement, authorities mentioned Tuesday.
Syed is a father of six whose household has been within the US for about six years since shifting from Afghanistan, his daughter instructed CNN.
Hours earlier than police introduced Syed was a suspect, CNN was inside his dwelling Tuesday morning and spoke to his daughter, who supplied perception on her father and what occurred after they final noticed one another, which was earlier than his arrest and earlier than authorities executed a search warrant on their household’s dwelling. CNN has chosen to not title the daughter out of concern for her security.
“My father shouldn’t be an individual who can kill anyone. My father has all the time talked about peace. That’s why we’re right here in the US. We got here from Afghanistan, from combating, from taking pictures,” she instructed CNN.
The daughter instructed CNN she married a person in February 2018, and her father was not proud of the wedding on the time however had come to simply accept it extra just lately. She mentioned her husband was mates with two victims, Aftab Hussein and Naeem Hussain.
Syed beforehand had “just a few minor misdemeanor arrests (from the Albuquerque Police Division) from home violence” and another incidents, Hartsock mentioned. All three earlier home violence fees Syed confronted had been dismissed, Hartsock mentioned.
