A Chapel Hill man has been charged with shooting and killing three
people near the campus of the University of North Carolina, causing fear
in the surrounding community. Initial concerns focused on the fact that
all three victims were Muslim, causing alarm as to the motive, but police
said initial indications were that the shooting on Tuesday
afternoon stemmed from an argument involving parking.
One of the victims was a student at North Carolina State University,
while another was at the University of North Carolina and the third was
planning to enroll at UNC dental school this year. The alleged
shooter, Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, turned himself in “without incident” to
the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office in nearby Pittsboro after the
shooting, Chatham County Sgt. Kevin Carey told the Post.
The Chapel Hill Police Department said Wednesday morning that initial
indications suggested that the issue stemmed from a parking altercation.
“Our preliminary investigation indicates that the crime was motivated
by an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking,” the department said in a
statement. “Hicks is cooperating with investigators and more
information may be released at a later time.”
After the three victims were identified in an alert from UNC Chapel
Hill as husband and wife Deah Barakat, 23, and Yusor Mohammad, 21,
and Mohammad’s sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, speculation arose
that the killing might be related to their religion. The news
sparked outrage and a viral Twitter hashtag, #MuslimLivesMatter,
reflecting users belief that the crime was religiously motivated and
frustration with what they saw as the media’s failure to report the
incident.
“Our investigators are exploring what could have motivated Mr. Hicks to
commit such a senseless and tragic act,” Chris Blue, the Chapel Hill police
chief, said in a statement. “We understand the concerns about the
possibility that this was hate-motivated and we will exhaust every lead to
determine if that is the case. Our thoughts are with the families and
friends of these young people who lost their lives so needlessly.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/11/reports-3-young-muslims-slain-in-chapel-hill-shooting-n-c-man-charged/

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