Police are hunting a gunman who shot and killed a popular Muslim cleric and his assistant as the two men walked home from Saturday prayers at a mosque in NY.
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Police said the imam, identified as Maulama Akonjee, 55, and his assistant, 64-year-old Thara Uddin, were shot just before 2:00 p.m.in the Ozone Park neighborhood.
The two men, originally from Bangladesh, were approached from behind by a man who shot them both in the head, police said.
A sketch of the shooter released by police early Sunday shows a dark-haired, bearded man wearing glasses. Police described him as having a medium complexion.
“There is nothing in the preliminary investigation to indicate that they were targeted due to their faith”, police said.
An NYPD deputy inspector, Henry Sautner, told the Associated Press: “There’s nothing in the preliminary investigation to indicate that they were targeted due to their faith”.
Now, the New York Police Department have released a sketch of the suspect based on witness accounts. The 55-year-old imam, Alala Uddin Akongi, and his 64-year-old assistant, Thara Uddin, had been attending afternoon prayers and were in traditional Muslim dress.
Community members will hold a peaceful march from the prayer service site to 79th Street and Liberty Avenue, where the two men were killed.
While a motive has not yet been revealed, many at the house of worship Sunday decried Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s vitriolic rhetoric on Muslims.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations was set to announce a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the murderer later today.
Both came to the US from Bangladesh.
Police on Saturday had not ruled out any motive, but said initially it did not appear to be a hate crime.
Eyewitnesses said that gunshots rang out Saturday afternoon near the Al-Furqan Jamia Masjid in Queens, a borough of New York City, leaving both victims lying on the ground in their own blood just a block from the mosque.
Trump also came under fire last month over attacks he made against the parents of a Muslim U.S. soldier who was killed during combat in Iraq.
The murders have shaken the Muslim community, many said.
City Hall issued a statement: “While it is too early to tell what led to these murders, it is certain that the NYPD will stop at nothing to ensure justice is served”.
Akonjee’s son, Naim Akonjee, 21, said his father first worked as an imam in the Bronx before working at two mosques in Queens and put his family first. Akonjee was carrying about $1,000 in cash that was not taken during the shooting, police said.
Scores of people at a rally at the scene of the shooting chanted “We want justice!”
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The Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Shahriar Alam, posted a message on Twitter calling the shooting a “cowardly act on peace-loving people”.
