New Mexico: Prime suspect in homicide of 4 Muslim males arrested  

After days of bolstering safety round Albuquerque-area mosques, searching for to allay fears of a shooter pushed by anti-Muslim hate, police mentioned on Tuesday they’d arrested 51-year-old man, one among the many metropolis’s immigrant Muslims.

Authorities mentioned the killings might have been rooted in a private grudge, probably with intra-Muslim sectarian overtones.

All 4 victims have been of Afghan or Pakistani descent. One was killed in November, and the opposite three within the final two weeks.

A search of the suspect’s Albuquerque residence uncovered “proof that reveals the offender knew the victims to some extent, and an inter-personal battle might have led to the shootings,” police mentioned in an announcement saying the arrest.

Investigators are nonetheless piecing collectively motives for the killings of the 4 males, Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock of the Albuquerque Police Division mentioned at a information convention.

In response to reporters’ questions, Hartsock mentioned sectarian animus by the suspect towards his fellow Muslim victims might have performed a task within the violence. “However we’re probably not clear if that was the precise motive, or if it was a part of a motive, or if there’s only a greater image that we’re lacking,” he mentioned.

The suspect has a document of prison misdemeanours in america, together with a case of home violence, over the past three or 4 years, Hartsock mentioned.