4 Muslims shot dead in Albuquerque, New Mexico, were 'targeted killings,' says governor

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4 Muslims shot dead in Albuquerque, New Mexico, were 'targeted killings,' says governor
Police line tapeGetty Images
  • A Muslim man, so far unidentified, was killed on Friday in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
  • Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27 and Aftab Hussein, 41, were shot dead in the last two weeks.
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A man has been shot dead in Albuquerque, and he could be the latest victim in the suspected serial killing of Muslims in New Mexico's largest city.

Albuquerque Police announced that a young, unidentified Muslim man had been shot and killed on Friday evening.

The police did not offer any other details of the man or disclose the circumstances of the murder but said he was found dead at the scene and appeared to be in his mid-twenties.

He was the fourth Muslim man to be killed in a spate of unsolved killings.

Police in New Mexico and federal agencies are investigating if the murders are linked, while Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham described them as "targeted killings."

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Reuters reports that in the other recent murders of Muslim men in New Mexico's largest city, the victims were ambushed and shot without warning, police said.

Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, a Pakistani immigrant and a planning director for the city of Espanola, was shot dead on Monday outside his Albuquerque apartment complex in early August.

Aftab Hussein, 41, was found dead of gunshot wounds on July 26 near Albuquerque's international district. He attended the same mosque as Hussain.

The shooting of 62-year-old Afghan migrant Mohammad Ahmadi on November 7, 2021, in the parking lot of a halal supermarket he ran is the fourth killing that detectives are trying to determine if it is related to the more recent homicides, Albuquerque said.

The FBI is assisting in the murder investigations.

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Gov. Grisham said on Twitter that the killings were "deeply angering and wholly intolerable."

She added: We will continue to do everything we can to support the Muslim community of Albuquerque and greater New Mexico during this difficult time. You are New Mexicans, you are welcomed here, and we stand with you."

The Albuquerque police chief has announced that there is a reward of $20,000 for any tip that helps solve the murders.

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