After shooting and killing a Queens imam and his friend last Saturday, suspected killer Oscar Morel has been charged with second-degree murder.
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Information on an attorney for Morel wasn’t immediately available.
“Detectives were able to develop a strong lead into a suspect very early on based on an unrelated incident that occurred in Brooklyn, approximately 10 minutes after the shooting, three miles away”, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said during a press conference. He was arrested late on Sunday night after he intentionally rammed his auto into an unmarked police cruiser that was attempting to block him in.
Earlier, during the funeral service for Akonjee, 55, and Uddin, 64, during which some mourners said they believe the two were shot as they left the mosque due to their religion, de Blasio offered condolences on behalf of all New Yorkers.
The Bangladeshi victims, dressed in tradition Muslim clothing, were both shot in the head by a gunman who approached them from behind, police said. Hundreds gathered near the mosque to hold a mass prayer service for the victims and to demand justice for the murders.
Chief Boyce said Monday that the possibility the murders were a hate crime is still “certainly on the table”.
When detectives approached the auto, Boyce said the man then rammed their vehicle.
A sketch of a suspect in the shooting of Imam Akonjee and Uddin hangs on a street sign across from Al-Furqan Jame Mosque, where the two victims had been worshipping on Saturday afternoon before the shooting, in NY.
A witness to the hit-and-run identified the man in a photo array as the driver who had struck the cyclist, Boyce said.
The case has not been classified as a hate crime, and police haven’t said what prompted the brazen daytime shooting.
Passions ran hot at a funeral service for a slain imam and his friend who were shot by an unidentified gunman near their mosque.
According to police, video also showed the suspect getting into a black SUV and driving away.
Although the police have not disclosed any possible motive behind the murders yet, sources claim the suspect was settling a score in a feud between the area Muslims and Hispanics.
De Blasio addressed the “fear in the community” and said that the NYPD, including the 900 Muslim-Americans in the department, will protect Muslim communities. He also said the community will get extra police protection. The New York Police Department (NYPD) is now questioning a “person of interest” in the murders.
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Morel’s brother Alvin Morel told the Daily News that he was stunned to learn the news of his arrest, saying his family had no gripes with Muslims.
