Muslims in Albuquerque on edge after 4 killings [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Four Muslim men were shot and killed in recent months in Albuquerque, New Mexico, including three in the last two weeks.
• The most recent attack happened Friday night, hours after the fourth victim attended a funeral for the two other victims. 
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is boosting state police presence after the deaths.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is boosting state police presence after a fourth Muslim man was fatally shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday night.

Four Muslim men were shot and killed in recent months, including three in the last two weeks.

Police are investigating whether the shootings are connected, according to the governor’s office.

“We will not stop in our pursuit of justice for the victims and their families and are bringing every resource to bear to apprehend the killer or killers — and we WILL find them,” Lujan Grisham said.

The Albuquerque Police Department is asking the public for assistance finding a vehicle believed to be connected to the deaths. The car in question is a four-door dark gray or silver-colored Volkswagen sedan that bears tinted windows and is possibly a Jetta, per the Albuquerque Journal.

“We have a very, very strong link,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Sunday. “We have a vehicle of interest. … We have got to find this vehicle.”

The first shooting occurred on Nov. 7, when 62-year-old Mohammad Ahmadi was killed behind a halal market he owned with his brother.

Two other men, Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41, were killed in the past two weeks. Both men were from Pakistan and members of the same mosque.

According to police there was a “strong possibility” their deaths were connected to the Ahmadi killing in November, Reuters reports.

The fourth victim, 25-year-old Naeem Hussai,n was shot late Friday outside of an organization that offers services for refugees and asylum seekers.

The Muslim community in New Mexico is now on edge, with some wanting to flee the state.

“Incredibly terrified. Panicked. Some people want to move from the state until this thing is over. Some people have moved from the state,” Ahmad Assed, president of the Islamic Center of New Mexico, told CNN.

“Businesses are closing … early. Students won’t leave their homes,” he said.

President Joe Biden said he was “angered and saddened” by the killings and that his administration “stands strongly with the Muslim community.”

“These hateful attacks have no place in America,” Biden said Sunday in a tweet.

Source: AP News