“But the majority of us living here is Bangladeshi”, says Rahman.
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CAIR officials are in touch with the NYPD and hoping to clarify more details about the shooting, Awad said.
A police official said investigators had found what they believe was the murder weapon in the man’s home as well as clothes matching the description of what the gunman had been wearing during the shootings.
Boyce explained the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run was identical to the auto the suspect got into following the double shooting. Believing the same auto was used in both incidents, police watched the vehicle. “Right now we can’t explain why this person was there”. He was charged in the hit-and-run crash, as well as the ramming of a police auto before his arrest, Boyce said. It is unclear of the motives behind the shootings. Investigators found the vehicle parked on the street in East New York, where they waited for the driver to emerge.
Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier in the day had addressed crowds at a funeral service for the men. Later Monday, he said he believed police were close to bringing justice to the Muslim and Bangladeshi community.
“It’s also clear there’s a lot of fear in the community”, de Blasio said.
Members of the New York City Police Department establish a crime scene at the spot where Imam Alala Uddin Akongi was killed in the Queens borough of New York City.
“All we want is justice”. “Our community’s heart is broken”.
“Two people just got murdered and NYPD saying this might not be a hate crime”. “Come on, this is common sense”.
NYPD Chief of Detective Robert Boyce said detectives conducted a video canvas around 3:50 p.m.at 79th Street and Liberty Avenue through which they identified a black GMC trailblazer that the male suspect reportedly used to flee eastbound after the double homicide. They were not robbed. The suspect then sprints away from the scene as both victims fall to the ground. The hashtag spread quickly as Muslims around the country reeled from the news that two Muslim men were fatally shot blocks from their Queens mosque on Saturday afternoon. Afterwards, the suspect walked away with no apparent urgency.
Police say they’re fairly certain they’ve arrested a man who killed a NY imam and his friend.
For now, however, people’s main focus is grieving the loss of a beloved community figure.
“I don’t feel safe anymore”, Hossain said.
Police say the men were attacked from behind, leaving Uddin to believe his uncle and the imam were targeted due to their faith.
Politicians and advocates gathered around the mosque on Sunday.
“We don’t know what happened but we will”, the mayor said.
Photo of Imam Maulama Akonjee.
In Bangladesh, the imam’s eldest son Fayez Uddin Akonjee, 28, said he was relieved at the charges.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations joined a community news conference about the deaths.
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Speaker after speaker at the funeral implored law enforcement to investigate the murders as a hate crime and step up efforts to protect sections of the city like Ozone Park where many Muslims live and work.
