Eric Phillips, a press secretary for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, said the mayor was closely monitoring the police investigation into the shootings.
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Many worshipers from the local Bangladeshi community mosque gathered at the murder scene to denounce the shooting as a hate crime.
The Imam, Maulama Akonjee (55), and his assistant Thara Uddin (64), were rushed to a hospital, where they later succumbed to their injuries.
(Abdul Chowdhury via AP).
According to local reports, the shooting occured on Saturday afternoon near the Al-Furqan Jame Mosque in the NY borough of Queens. “At this time, a motive has not been determined, and we are now conducting an extensive canvass of the area for video and additional witnesses”.
The pair were walking together along a street when the lone gunman approached them from behind and shot them in the head at close range, police said.
Friends of Akonjee told media that he had just left the mosque after prayers when he was shot.
An imam and his assistant were both shot in the head and killed in New York Saturday, police said, in an attack with unclear motives.
A young woman looks over the area from the steps of an elevated train station Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York, near a crime scene after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot as they left afternoon prayers. Police released a sketch early Sunday of a dark-haired, bearded man wearing glasses.
NYPDThe shooting took place on a very busy street about a block from the al-Furqan Masjid Mosque in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, N.Y.
According to witnesses and video surveillance, immediately after the victims were shot, the same male was seen fleeing from the scene with a gun in his hand. Police spokesman said there is nothing in the preliminary investigation to indicate that they were targeted due to their faith.
According to the report, local residents described the imam as a pious, well-regarded member of the community who was set to leave for Bangladesh in 10 days to attend his son’s wedding.
Neighbors also described Uddin as a pious and thoughtful man who prayed five times a day and went to the mosque.
Police said no motive had been established for the killing of Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and 64-year-old Thara Uddin on Saturday afternoon near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque.
Video footage posted on YouTube showed dozens of men gathered near the site of the shooting, with one of them telling the crowd that it appeared to be a hate crime.
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Naima Akonjee, the imam’s daughter, says her father didn’t have “any problems with anyone”.
