Police believe they have identified the suspect in the killing of a Queens imam and his associate who is now being held on unrelated charges of a hit-and-run that took place roughly three miles from the scene of the homicide, city officials announced at a press conference Monday evening.
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Authorities have not said what prompted the daytime shooting of Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin.
The charges against Oscar Morel, 35, of Brooklyn, came just hours after hundreds of mourners gathered for the outdoor funeral of the two men.
The imam and Uddin were walking northbound on 79 Street and, as they were turning onto Liberty Avenue, they were approached from behind by a man who then shot them, according to video surveillance and witnesses.
A man suspected of gunning down an imam and his friend as they left a New York City mosque was arrested and charged with murder late Monday night, said police, who have not yet released a motive for the shooting deaths.
A suspect has been charged with the double murder of a NY imam and his friend.
A man has been charged with murder over the brazen gunning down of a Muslim cleric and his assistant on a NY street.
Passions ran hot at a funeral service for a slain imam and his friend who were shot by an unidentified gunman near their mosque.
Investigators say they’ve identified the handgun used to kill a New York City imam and his friend.
Oscar Morel appeared in court at his arraignment Tuesday afternoon in Queens.
“This is one of the most horrendous and despicable acts”, Queens Assistant District Attorney Peter McCormick told Judge Karen Gopee.
Muslim activist groups in and out of the neighborhood had called the killings a hate crime, though police have not yet given a motive behind the killings. “Their deaths are a devastating loss to their families and the community that they served as men of peace”. “I’ve been trying to reach him all day”, he said.
Morel, who was employed as a porter at a Manhattan college, did not enter a plea. He was ordered held without bail.
About 10 minutes later, a auto matching that description struck a bicyclist about three miles away in Brooklyn, Boyce said.
After finding vehicle parked on the street, police waited for Morel to return.
The gunmen was seen on CCTV video fleeing the scene in a vehicle.
The shooting took place close to the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park neighborhood at around 2 pm on Saturday.
Monir Chowdhury, who worshipped daily with the two men, said he had moved to the community because of its large Bangladeshi immigrant population, but in recent months has been harassed by people shouting anti-Muslim epithets.
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A man weeps at a demonstration against hate crimes following the prayer service Monday.
