The NYPD arrested Oscar Morel on Monday in the shooting deaths of a New York City imam and his friend as they left a mosque over the weekend.
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Oscar Morel, a 35-year-old Brooklyn man, has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, NYPD Detective Hubert Reyes told AFP.
He’s accused of fatally shooting Imam Maulana Akonjee and his friend Thara Uddin as they walked home on Liberty Avenue and 79th Street following afternoon prayer on August 13, the NYPD said.
Hundreds of mourners have gathered in NY for the outdoor funeral for a murdered Muslim imam.
“There is nothing in the preliminary investigation that would indicate they were targeted due to their faith”, NY police Deputy Inspector Henry Sautner told reporters Saturday. Some members of the congregation shouted “justice” throughout the service.
Police announced that the hit-and-run took place just 3 miles from the shooting; the black SUV reported in the hit-and-run was an identical match to the vehicle identified in Ozone Park.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, among those who paid respects to the slain duo, promised deployment of more police personnel to protect mosques and the Muslim community as he underlined the entire city stood shoulder-to-shoulder with those in mourning.
Authorities have not released a motive for the killings, though Boyce said the possibility that the murders were a hate crime is “certainly on the table”.
The killings have shocked the neighbourhood’s Bangladeshi community.
One speaker at the pre-funeral conference demanded security cameras be erected outside mosques and for the street where the two men were shot to be renamed in their honour.
In a press conference, NY mayor Bill de Blasio said he had offered his condolences at the funerals of the two men who were killed in cold blood.
Police told a briefing before the charges were announced that a suspect being questioned was an Hispanic man from Brooklyn.
About 1,000 people, including New York City’s mayor, gathered Monday for the prayer service for Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin. Imam Akonjee and Thara Uddin were shot in the. “We want to know as victims why he killed my father”, he said. Prosecutors say the attack is being viewed as a possible hate crime.
They were killed near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in Ozone Park Saturday afternoon.
Police searched the area and found the Trailblazer near the site of the hit-and-run accident.
Detectives are also contemplating a theory that Morel was hired as a hit man.
Hundreds of Muslims from across the city attended a ceremony in a large vehicle park where funeral prayers were held and members of the community urged action.
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Many in the local Bangladeshi Muslim community fear it was a targeted attack.
