A 51-year-old man from Afghanistan was charged Tuesday with killing two Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, authorities said, and he is suspected in the slayings of two others whose deaths sparked fear in Muslim communities nationwide.
Officials announced the arrest of Muhammad Syed a day after he was taken into custody.
Police Chief Harold Medina said authorities had tracked down a vehicle believed to be involved in one of the slayings in New Mexico’s largest city.
“The driver was detained, and he is our primary suspect for the murders,” the tweet said.
Investigators received tips from the city’s Muslim community that pointed them toward Syed, who arrived in the U.S. sometime in the last several years, police said.
The motive and exact nature of the relationships between Syed and the victims – and the victims to one another – remained unclear. But police continued to investigate how they crossed paths before the shootings.
“Detectives discovered evidence that shows the offender knew the victims to some extent and an interpersonal conflict may have led to the shootings,” police said in a news release.
The slayings drew the attention of President Joe Biden, who said such attacks “have no place in America.”
They also sent a shudder through Muslim communities, where some people questioned their safety and limited their movements.
When told about the announcement, Muhammad Imtiaz Hussain, brother of one of the victims, Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, said he felt relieved but needed to know more about the suspect and the motive.
“This gives us hope that we will have (the) truth come out,” he said. “We need to know why.”
Naeem Hussain was killed Friday night, and the three other men died in ambush shootings. Three of the four slayings happened in the last two weeks.
Hussain, 25, was from Pakistan. His death came just days after those of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41, who were also from Pakistan and members of the same mosque.
The earliest case involves the November killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, from Afghanistan.
For now, Syed was charged in the killings of Aftab Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain because bullet casings found at the crime scenes were linked to a gun found at his home, authorities said.