Chapel Hill - Police in North Carolina have arrested a 46-year-old man for killing three Muslim students who were his neighbors at their Chapel Hill home on Tuesday.
The bodies of Deah Shaddy Barakat,23, and Yusor Mohammad, 21, of Chapel Hill and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, a resident of Raleigh, were found at their home in a condominium complex close to the University of North Carolina.
Barakat and Yusor were newlyweds and Abu-Salha was Mohammad's sister, they were found with gunshot wounds to their heads.
Craig Stephen Hicks, the suspect, reportedly turned himself in shortly after the incident. He has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of the family.
According to reports from Chapel Hill police, Hicks had murdered his neighbors because they had a long standing parking dispute. However, there have been speculations, particularly on social media, people have said that the crime may have been motivated by the victims' faith.
Authorities say preliminary investigation reveals that the Hicks was motivated by a long running "neighbor dispute over parking."
Chief Chris Blues said investigators will leave no stone unturned and will follow every possible lead to solve the crime.
"We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case."
The shooting has not gone down well with many American Muslims and others in the world, who view the killings as an product of anti-Islam sentiments in the county.
Twitter hastags #MuslimLivesMatter, #ChapelHillShooting and #CallItTerrorism has been trending worldwide on social media.
"Based on the brutal nature of this crime...the religious attire of the two victims, and the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in American society, we urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to quickly address speculation of a possible bias motive in this case," Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Hicks appeared in court to affirm that he understood the charges against him. He also confirmed an indigence affidavit.
District Judge Marcia Morey said Hicks would be assigned a public defender and she scheduled March 4th for a likely cause hearing. The suspect is held at the Durham County Jail without bond.
Barakat was a second-year graduate dental student at the University of North Carolina, his wife Yusor was scheduled to start dental studies in the fall.
The newly weds were both graduates from the university of Carolina, Barakat graduated with a business administration degree, while Yusor graduated in December with a degree in biological science. Abu-Salha was a sophomore design major, she started classes studying last fall.
