US gunman kills 3 Muslims near University of North Carolina
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, of Chapel Hill, arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, Facebook page shows messages critical of various religions while preliminary police investigation points to parking dispute as motive.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, of Chapel Hill, was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, the Chapel Hill Police Department said in a statement on Wednesday. On a Facebook page appearing to belong to Hicks, he had posted frequent messages critical of various religions.
Yet, police say the shooting death of three family members near the University of North Carolina campus was motivated by an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking.
Chapel Hill police said in a statement Wednesday that their preliminary investigation shows the fight over parking sparked the fatal shooting of the three Muslim university students.
Police identified the victims in the Tuesday evening shooting as dental student Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19.
The university said Barakat was a second-year student at its dentistry school and his wife was planning on starting there in the next school year, while her sister was a student at North Carolina State University. The wife listed herself on Facebook as a student at North Carolina State University.
According to a VICE news report, Barakat was involved in raising funds to provide dental care to Syrian refugees. He had plans to travel to Turkey in the coming summer.
A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) confirmed to Reuters that the three were Muslim.
"Based on the brutal nature of this crime, the past anti-religion statements of the alleged perpetrator, the religious attire of two of the victims, and the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in American society, we urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to quickly address speculation of a possible bias motive in this case," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
The shooting sparked the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter on social media, with posters also questioning what role the students' faith may have played in the incident.
A Facebook page titled "Our Three Winners" was created to honor the victims, who were all involved in humanitarian efforts, and a vigil was planned near the university's Chapel Hill campus for Wednesday night.
The university said in a statement that police responded to a report of gunshots at 5:11 pm local time and found the three victims, who were all pronounced dead at the scene.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.
