Police in Albuquerque say they have detained the “primary suspect” in the killings of four Muslim men in New Mexico’s largest city, deaths that raised fears in the community and led to increased security at mosques and schools.
Chief Harold Medina announced Tuesday authorities tracked down a vehicle linked with a recent killing and detained a man believed to be connected to the four slayings. No additional details were immediately available.
"The driver was detained and he is our primary suspect for the murders," Medina wrote on Twitter.
Albuquerque authorities had bolstered security measures in recent days as worries mounted within the city's Muslim community as the ambush-style killings persisted, the most recent happening Friday.
Authorities on Monday sought help searching for a vehicle that appeared to be the one discovered on Tuesday. Police said in a news release the vehicle was suspected of being used in the homicides — a dark gray or silver four-door Volkswagen that appeared to be a Jetta or Passat with dark tinted windows.
The common elements in the deaths were the victims’ race and religion, officials said, and authorities were investigating a possible link between the killings. Authorities released photos hoping people could help identify the car and offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Mohammad Ahmadi, a 62-year-old Muslim man from Afghanistan, was the first killed on Nov. 7. Two Pakistani men, Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, were killed July 26 and Aug. 1, and 25-year-old Naeem Hussain, also from Pakistan, was shot to death on Friday, according to investigators.
Albuquerque's Muslim community in fear
Khalid Emshadi, a Republican candidate for New Mexico’s House of Representatives, had campaign events planned for Friday — but he says fear of a possible serial killer targeting Muslims in Albuquerque could keep him home.
“I'm thinking to cancel them,” said Emshadi, 44, a Muslim who emigrated with his wife from Libya to the U.S. in 2008. He’s lived in New Mexico’s most populous city for just over a year.
“I cannot work the streets,” the father of five told USA TODAY before the arrest. “I cannot knock on doors because if this person is still on the streets and feeling comfortable killing Muslims, I could be his next target.”
Emshadi said the killings have made him and fellow Albuquerque Muslims nervous to practice their Islamic rituals at local mosques. “We think something bad is going to happen if we just start praying, (like) a crazy person comes inside and shoots us,” he said.
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Samia Assed, an-Albuquerque-based Muslim community activist and organizer, said she knew the third victim, Muhammad Afzaal Hussain. Her fellow civic engagement worker was due to get married in September, Assed told USA TODAY.
"Muhammad was part of a cricket team, and his whole cricket team left town the next day (after he was killed),” Assed said.
“These are young men who come to America for the peace of mind of just living a life and not having to worry about the issues that they left back home,” she said. ”Nobody wants to face this kind of fear.”
Muslim hate-crime statistics in Albuquerque
Few anti-Muslim hate crimes have been recorded in Albuquerque over the last five years, according to FBI data cited by Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a professor of criminal justice at California State University at San Bernardino.
From 2017 through 2020, there was one anti-Muslim hate crime a year. The highest recent number was in 2016, when Albuquerque police recorded six out of a total of 25 hate crimes.
That largely tracks with national trends, which hit the lowest numbers in a decade in 2020, only to increase by 45% in 2021 in a dozen cities and states, Levin said.
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Albuquerque authorities have said the motive in these killings is unclear.
How Albuquerque leaders are rea
Meanwhile, Albuquerque officials along with state and local law enforcement have heightened security efforts as authorities investigated.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said police are protecting local mosques during prayer times. The city is also organizing home food deliveries and access to trauma services through the Albuquerque Community Safety Department for those who need them.
“We are outraged by these attacks and will not relent in our pursuit of justice for those we have lost,” Keller said in a statement.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said additional state police will patrol Albuquerque.
Albuquerque police have ramped up officers’ presence near Muslim-affiliated schools and worked with the University of New Mexico’s police department in preparation for fall semester. Albuquerque Public Schools was working with the city on addressing student safety, Keller said, noting the school year starts Wednesday for most Albuquerque schools.
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Albuquerque Police provided the Islamic Center of New Mexico with extra security in addition to the mosque’s own, Assed said.
“This is foreign to the community. It was a big surprise to have it in sequence this way within the Muslim community,” Assed said of the recent killings that have shaken the approximately 4,000 Muslims she estimates to be living in Albuquerque.
“The authorities have been amazing, they really stepped up,” said Assed, who organized a community prayer Tuesday night in memory of the four shooting victims.
Contributing: The Associated Press
