Morel, 35, was also charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a police spokesman said.The chief suspect wanted for the double murder of a NY imam and his friend that sent shock waves through Muslim communities is in custody and charged with another crime, police said Monday.
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Morel, 35, was also charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, the spokesperson added.
The suspected killer was taken into custody last night but had not been charged or identified, it said.
Authorities had earlier said hate crime was being investigated as a possible motive – as demanded by Muslim elders – but did not provide any information on the suspect’s motives Monday evening.
Charges against the Brooklyn man were upgraded after police said they recovered a revolver at his home and clothes similar to those being worn in a surveillance video that showed the gunman.
Police say they’re fairly certain they’ve arrested a man who killed a NY imam and his friend.
“Because of the evidence so far, we strongly believe this is the individual”, Boyce said.
Imam Akonjee and Thara Uddin were shot in the.
Passions ran hot at a funeral service for the two victims.
The New York Times said that those who knew Akonjee and Uddin described them as religious and pious and said they had no obvious enemies.
“A police source said of the shooter, “[The killer] turns and walks away deliberately, not in a great rush.
The mayor decried anti-Muslim rhetoric being spewed around the country and said New York City will stands behind its Islamic residents. The crowd applauded when he said that whoever committed the crime would be brought to justice. Police said the investigation is ongoing.
After being questioned over the past few hours, the man is facing charges of murder along with fleeing a crime scene and hitting someone with his vehicle.
Police have seized the suspect’s vehicle and are waiting to conduct a search warrant on his home. Surveillance footage from that area showed the SUVs to be identical, and after searching the area, police found it parked, Boyce said. The man was taken into custody Sunday night in connection with that crash.
A report in June by CAIR and the University of California at Berkeley said the number of recorded incidents in which mosques were targeted jumped to 78 in 2015, the most since the group began tracking them in 2009.
The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when a man approached imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and his assistant, Thara Uddin, 64, both from the Ozone Park neighborhood’s Bangladeshi community, and shot them both in the back near the Al Furqan Jame Masjid mosque.
Another son, Foyez Uddin, who isn’t related to the other victim, told The Associated Press in Bangladesh that his father and mother had booked flights for August 31 to visit Akonjee’s mother.
At the memorial service, the imam’s son had one simple request as he spoke for the families.
Police say the men were attacked from behind, leaving Uddin to believe his uncle and the imam were targeted due to their faith.
Many in the Bangladeshi immigrant community in Queens see the killing as a hate crime, though police have not identified a motive.
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Chants of “We Want Justice” rang out in the streets of Brooklyn and Queens Monday afternoon as thousands of Muslims marched from the funeral of an Ozone Park imam and his associate to the site where they were killed in broad daylight.
