Oscar Morel, 35, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
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A man who answered a phone listed for Morel’s family said that he was stunned by the arrest.
Community members pray inside of a mosque before the funeral service of Imam Maulama Akonjee, and Thara Uddin in the Queens borough of New York City, August 15, 2016.
Boyce said police believed that the auto was the same one identified in surveillance-camera footage that “fled the scene” of the killing.
About 10 minutes later, a vehicle matching that description struck a cyclist about three miles away in Brooklyn, he said. Investigators from a warrants squad tracked it to an address in Brooklyn where they waited in an unmarked police cruiser for the man to enter before blocking him in, police said.
Police said they also recovered a revolver in searching the suspect’s home.
Earlier on Monday, about 1,000 people gathered under tents to praise Mr Akonjee, 55, and Mr Uddin, 64, at an Islamic funeral service where emotions ran high.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said during a press conference on Monday night that they “strongly believe” the suspect in custody is the same person who killed Akonjee and Uddin.
“I assured the members of the Bangladeshi and the Muslim community all over this city that the killer will be brought to justice”, he said, adding the police were well on their way to bringing justice to the community that “is hurting so deeply right now”.
De Blasio, a Democrat, told those gathered that the entire city was “mourning with you”. In addition, he hasn’t been charged in the double slaying.According to police, however, surveillance footage shows the man speeding away from the scene of the Saturday shooting near a Queens mosque in a black GMC Trailblazer.Authorities remain unclear as to the motive of the daytime shooting of Imam Maulama Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin.
Some people in the Bangladeshi Muslim community served by the mosque worry the killing of the Imam and his assistant could be a hate crime.
He was arrested on Sunday following a hit-and-run traffic accident just after the shootings.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, addressing the funeral, said the city would bolster police presence in the neighborhood.
Police are said to be investigating the motive for the killings.
However the local Muslim community has claimed the attack was a hate crime.
Henry Sautner, deputy inspector of the New York Police department said: “There’s nothing in the preliminary investigation to indicate that they were targeted due to their faith”. Both were shot as they left a mosque in Queens following afternoon prayers Saturday.
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De Blasio promised extra police protection around mosques in the coming days, an announcement that was met with applause.
