Albuquerque Police have arrested Muhammad Syed, 51, in connection with two of the four homicides of Muslim men in the area.
Syed, according to KRQE News, was taken into custody on Monday in Santa Rosa, a town about 118 miles east of Albuquerque, where the murders took place. According to APD, Syed is charged with the July 26 shooting of Aftab Hussein and the Aug. 1 shooting of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain. APD connected Syed to those two cases through bullet casings recovered at the respective crime scenes and several guns recovered in the case.
“A tip from the community is what helped lead us to this subject, and what helped us eventually find the car that we put out just two days ago to the public,” APD Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock told KRQE News. “Hundreds of tips have come in that have been thoroughly reviewed; dozens of interviews took place.”
About the same time Syed was being arrested in Santa Rosa, APD was searching his home near Gibson and Carlisle. Police said multiple guns were found inside Syed’s home, while another gun was found in his car.
The capture came from a tip after the Council on American Islamic Relations increased the reward to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest in connection with four homicides of Muslim men in Albuquerque since November. The latest murder occurred last Saturday, the third killing within a span of two weeks.
Naeem Hussain, 25, was found dead hours after attending a funeral service for two of the three previous victims. Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, Aftab Hussein, 41, and Mohammad Ahmadi 62, were all “ambushed with no warning,” according to KOB4 News.
“We have never seen something like this -- something so systematic -- something happening over a long period of time, targeting multiple people with a killer who is still at large,” Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR Deputy Director, told KOB4 News last week. “We encourage anyone with information to contact local or federal law enforcement. This violence must be stopped. Now, this is absolutely insane. It’s absolutely unacceptable, and it must end right away.”
Albuquerque police held a press conference Saturday to announce it was working with the FBI to find the persons responsible for the murders.
According to KOAT 7 Action News, Albuquerque police said the first homicide occurred on Nov. 7, 2021, when Ahmadi, who is from Afghanistan, was killed outside of a business he and his brother ran at 1401 San Mateo Blvd. The second homicide, of Aftab Hussein, took place on July 26 in southeast Albuquerque. The third homicide took place on Aug. 1 when Muhammed Afzaal Hussain was killed in southeast Albuquerque. Naeem Hussain was killed on Aug. 5 on Truman Street and Grand Avenue in northeast Albuquerque.
“The motives are still being explored, fully, to understand what they are,” Hartsock told KRQE News.