Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have arrested a 51-year-old man in connection to the recent killings of two Muslim men in the city. Police said Muhammad Syed is considered the “primary suspect” in the deaths, CNN reports.
“As detectives prepared to search Syed’s home in Southeast Albuquerque on Monday, Syed drove from the residence in the Volkswagen Jetta that detectives believe was used in at least one of the murders,” police said in a news release.
According to the report, detectives searched Syed’s home where they found additional evidence that they believe ties him to the killings, police said. This includes evidence that police said shows that Syed knew the victims “to some extent” and interpersonal conflict may have led to the shootings.
Syed has been arrested on two homicide charges, in connection to the July 26 death of Aftab Hussein and the Aug. 1 death of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain.
“Detectives connected those homicides using bullet casings found at the scenes,” the release said. “The gun used in those shootings was discovered during the overnight search of his home.”
Police are working with the district attorney on potential charges for the other two homicides, the Aug. 5 killing of Naeem Hussain and the Nov. 7, 2021 killing of Mohammad Zaher Ahmadi.
Albuquerque police chief thanks Muslim community for its help in investigation
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina thanked the Muslim community for its trust in the department and its support in passing along information that eventually led to the detainment of a suspect in the killing of two Muslim men, CNN report revealed.
Police have been investigating the deaths of four Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The three most recent killings happened within the span of two weeks, putting the city on edge as police probed for potential links between the attacks.
Medina, speaking at a news conference on Tuesday to give an update on the investigation, said people in the Muslim community brought forward key information.
Police previously released information on a car they believed was involved in the killings.
He said someone called and said they saw the vehicle which was what allowed police to make an arrest in the case.
“You put faith in us, you trusted us,” Medina said, speaking directly to the Muslim community in Albuquerque.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller also thanked the Muslim community on Tuesday, saying, “They never gave up on our police department and they never gave up on the city where they live.”
“There is no way we could have put these pieces together without them,” Keller said at the news conference.
According to CNN, the three most recent killings in Albuquerque, New Mexico, claimed the lives of men from Pakistan, and the spate of shootings directed investigators’ attention to an unsolved killing of an Afghan man reported in 2021.
The latest killing happened just before midnight on Aug. 5 in the area of Truman Street and Grand Avenue. Police responded to reports of a shooting and found Naeem Hussain dead from a gunshot wound.
He had attended the funeral of two other victims that same day and expressed concern about the shootings, according to a spokesperson with a mosque in Albuquerque.
On Aug. 1, officers found Muhammad Afzaal Hussain on a sidewalk around 9:19 p.m. local time in the area of Cornell Street and Lead Avenue. He had been shot and died as a result of his wounds, police said.
On July 26, officers found Aftab Hussein with apparent gunshot wounds in the 400 block of Rhode Island at 10:30 p.m. local time. He also died as a result of his wounds, according to police.
The Aug. 1 and July 26 shootings got police looking into whether they may be connected to another killing that happened Nov. 7. That day, officers found an Afghan man, Mohammad Ahmadi, with a gunshot wound in the parking lot behind the business he ran with his brother.
“Our homicide detectives and our investigators currently believe there is a strong possibility that the same individual committed all three of these crimes,” Hartsock said last week, referring to the shootings of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, Aftab Hussein and Mohammad Ahmadi. “While we won’t go into why we think that,
there’s one strong commonality in all of our victims – their race and religion.”