The wife and daughter of the man suspected of killing two of four Muslim men recently murdered in Albuquerque contend that he is not responsible.
“I believe they will release my father,” Lubna Syed, daughter of Muhammad Syed, told KRQE on Tuesday. “He didn’t do anything. I know he is in custody, but I don’t think it’s true. I heard the news. I was just checking the news, but I don’t think it’s true.”
Syed was taken into custody on Monday in Santa Rosa, a town approximately 118 miles east of Albuquerque; a KOB 4 report said. He 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 a gun recovered during a search.
Naeem Hussain, 25, and Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, were also ambushed by an unknown suspect.
Police are continuing to investigate all four murders, and the city isn’t sure whether it should breathe a sigh of relief.
Syed was first arrested in 2017 for battery, one year after he arrived from Afghanistan; the KRQE report said. He was arrested for attacking his daughter’s boyfriend, but the case was dismissed.
A year later, Syed was charged with a domestic dispute after arguing with his wife while she drove. He was accused of pulling her out of the car by her hair, but that case was also dismissed. The same year, Syed’s son called the police to report his father hitting his mother and him with a large metal spoon. The son noted that his father regularly beat them. That case was dismissed as well.
Neighbors told KRQE that many people frequented Syed’s house, and police were called multiple times.
Syed’s son, Maiwand Syed, has also been arrested and is facing charges in connection with giving a false address when purchasing guns last summer, a Wednesday KRQE report said. The younger Syed, also known as Shaheen Syed, is in custody after a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives discovered he gave a false address when buying guns, which is a federal crime. Transaction records showed Shaheen Syed purchased two guns from Omni Arms in June of last year. On his background check and application, he listed the address of an apartment in Hallandale Beach, Fla., that has been occupied by another man for several years.
