The son of a man detained as the major suspect in the deaths of four Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, may have assisted his father in carrying out part of the crimes.
Shaheen Syed, 21, was investigated by police after his father, 51-year-old Muhammad Atif Syed, was charged with the July 26 and August 1 murders of Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27. According to police, two firearms and bullet casings seized at the location of both deaths matched those found in Muhammad Syed’s vehicle and residence.
However, federal officials now think Shaheen Syed, 21, is a “main suspect” in Naeem Hussain’s killing in November 2021.
According to the application to detain obtained by The Albuquerque Journal, ‘law enforcement agents have also recently acquired evidence that purports to link the defendant, Shaheen Syed, to these homicides.’
Shaheen Syed is being held on a different allegation after allegedly providing a fake address claiming to be a Florida resident in order to acquire a pistol in June 2021.
Authorities are also investigating what role the duo may have played together, with telephone data showing Shaheen may have assisted his father in spying on Naeem Hussain, 25, before he was shot on August 5 outside an Albuquerque refugee assistance facility.
When apprised about the son’s suspected participation, Tahir Gauba, a spokesperson for the Islamic Center of New Mexico, stated, ‘We always thought that it would be difficult for one individual to conduct such (murders).’
‘I feel the community is no longer afraid. They feel that whomever is guilty… is in jail,’ he added. As a result of allegations that he assaulted his father and sister, haheen Syed was already a wanted man with an outstanding arrest warrant.
In a separate incident, he and his brother were suspected of participation in a shooting outside of a nearby Walmart.
Shaheen Syed’s attorney, John Anderson, told the Journal that the claims against Syed are “very thin and speculative.”
Prosecutors argue that Shaheen Syed is a “chronic liar” and a flight risk, thus his detention.
Muhammad Syed, according to federal investigators, pursued Naeem Hussain after the funerals of Aftab Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain before being shot in the head and arm while sitting in his SUV.
It seems that Shaheen Syed communicated with his father while in the ‘general vicinity’ of the Islamic Center of New Mexico, where the burials took place.
Following Hussain’s murder, Shaheen’s phone appeared ‘near’ to the crime site than his father’s phone, which had previously signaled.
The two made a few phone conversations to one another while in the ‘general vicinity of the murder.’
Authorities add, “There seems to be no logical explanation for Shaheen Syed to have been in the vicinity when Hussain was murdered.”
Shaheen’s attorney argues that the prosecution’s claim that he was in the ‘general vicinity’ is ambiguous and that he should not be jailed for his’supposed participation’ in crimes if he will not be prosecuted. According to court documents acquired by DailyMail.com, Muhammed Syed, the father, was detained in May 2018 and charged with “battery (household member)”. In August of that year, prosecutors dismissed the charges after he entered a not guilty plea.
On December 23, 2018, four months later, Syed was charged with aggravated violence. The court rejected the lawsuit in April 2019.
According to the New York Times, it is thought that the suspect was a Sunni Muslim and may have targeted his victims because he was furious because his daughter married a Shiite Muslim.
Thanks to citizen tips, Albuquerque police recognized Muhammad Syed via his automobile on Tuesday.
“As police prepared to investigate Syed’s house on Monday, Syed fled in a Volkswagen Jetta that authorities suspect was utilized in at least one of the killings,” according to a statement.
“Detectives apprehended Syed and conducted a house and car search”
They uncovered further evidence linking Syed to the deaths.
‘Detectives uncovered information indicating that the perpetrator knew the victims to some extent and that a personal dispute may have precipitated the killings,’
Syed has been charged with two killings that have shocked the biggest city in New Mexico: the deaths of Aftab Hussein, 41, on July 26 and Muhammad Afzaal Hussein, 27, on August 1. Both guys went from Pakistan to the United States.
Police said the firearm used in these two shootings was recovered at Syed’s residence.
The other two fatalities, Mohammad Zahir Ahmadi, 62, and Naeem Hussain, 25, were also born in Afghanistan.
All of the deceased were South Asian immigrants who were fatally shot within a five-mile radius of one another during the preceding nine months.
Islam’s major split
Sunnis and Shiites disagree on who should have followed the Prophet Muhammad after his death in 632.
Sunni Muslims backed Abu Bakr, the prophet’s companion, as his successor, whilst Shiite Muslims believed that Ali bin Abu Talib, the prophet’s son-in-law and cousin, should have been chosen.
For ages, this distinction has been the core cause of hostilities across the Islamic world.
Sunnis feel that elected Muslim leaders are possible.
Shiites, on the other hand, believe that leaders must be direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
The two faiths continue to adhere to the same sacred text, the Quran, and to the same deity, Allah.
According to Ahmad Assed, the head of the biggest mosque in the city, Shiite enmity is being explored as a potential cause.
Who should have succeeded the Prophet Muhammad is seen differently by the many Islamic sects, which have split apart. Both branches of the faith continue to adhere to the same sacred text and worship the same deity.
Imtiaz Hussain, Afzaal Hussain’s brother, said to DailyMail.com that he did not endorse the hypothesis.
“My brother is a Sunni Muslim,” said the speaker. Before arriving to Albuquerque, Imtiaz, who was a prosecutor in Pakistan, said, “I am not a Shiite Muslim.”
Therefore, I reject the widely circulated claim that Muhammad Syed murdered my brother and others because his daughter married a Shia Muslim.
“My brother practiced Islam,” He never carried identification indicating his Sunni or Shiite faith.
Imtiaz Hussain also said that he did not think his brother knew Syed.
He said, “He only visited the Islamic Center every three to four months.”
“I have never met the guy who killed my brother, nor do I believe he knew my brother.
He is 51 years old, and my brother is 30 years younger; they wouldn’t have much in common given their age difference.
Assed said that the anxiety in his community was much greater than it had been after the September 11 attacks, when anti-Muslim feeling had been heightened.
Assed said, “To experience something as heinous and horrifying as what we’ve endured over the last two weeks is mind-boggling,” adding that many were terrified to approach windows.
‘It seems like we’re in a parallel world.’ The police did not comment on their preliminary findings.
“We are currently investigating the reasons,” stated Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina tweeted, “We have located the car thought to have been involved in the tragic murder of a Muslim guy in Albuquerque.”
The driver was apprehended, and he is our leading suspect in the killings.
Hartsock said, “Currently, we are just charging one individual.” If the evidence takes us to another individual, we will follow the evidence.
He said that the murder-related ballistic evidence had not yet been returned to them.
Hartsock said that they were told off by a community member via the Ambassador’s Program, a community relations initiative. They said that police got almost 200 tips.
Last Monday, Gauba praised Allah for Syed’s detention.
He said to DailyMail.com, “The whole Muslim community has been gripped by dread since the death of Naeem Hussain last Friday.”
‘People weren’t going outdoors. They did not go shopping. The individuals feared being shot.
Gauba expressed optimism that authorities had captured the killer of the four guys.
We must be able to achieve inner peace and go ahead.
Muslim locals hesitated going outdoors and questioned their safety in the ‘immigrant-friendly’ city, for which police offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s capture.
In the most recent murder, Naeem Hussein was shot dead in the middle of the street.
Muhammad Afzaal Hussain and Aftab Hussein, who were both from Pakistan and members of the same mosque, died only days before his passing.
CNN stated that in 2016, he fled to the United States from Pakistan as a Shia Muslim refugee, escaping persecution.
Imtiaz Hussain, Afzaal’s brother, told DailyMail.com, “Whoever did this tracked down my brother like an animal.” My brother had no enemies in the world.
In the future years, he planned to get a US passport, and his American goal was to become a congressman from New Mexico.
Imtiaz said that his brother liked politics and the United States. My brother was just the second Muslim student president in the 150-year history of the University of New Mexico.
He said that his brother was murdered on August 1 at 9:15 p.m. when he walked outside to take a phone call.
The medical examiner informed Imtiaz that two firearms were used in the attack: a handgun and a long rifle.
Imtiaz said that his family wanted to fly Muhammad’s corpse back to Pakistan, but his face and brain injuries were too severe.
Imtiaz displayed a picture of his deceased brother to DailyMail.com at the medical examiner’s office. Only half of Afzaal’s face is visible in the photograph, which depicts him draped in a white sheet. The remaining half, according to Imtiaz, was blasted off by the bullet wound.
Daniel Byrn, a neighbor who lives few houses down from where Afzaal was shot and killed in front of his home on the sidewalk, told DailyMail.com: I did not hear anything since I was sleeping. When the sirens began to sound, though, I peeked out my window and saw a corpse on the sidewalk.
Police instructed me to remain inside my home.
The following day, he discovered that two bullets had ricocheted off his neighbor’s garage. The police, he was informed, were unable to locate the shell casings.
Imtiaz feels relieved that a suspect has been apprehended.
Since this has occurred, we have been living in terror. Now my two sons may play on the balcony like regular children,’ he remarked.
The killings stunned the biggest metropolis in New Mexico, Albuquerque.
According to his brother-in-law Ehsan Shahalami, Naeem Hussein became a citizen of the United States only last month, and he launched his own trucking company early this year.
He had previously served as a case manager for Lutheran Family Services, assisting Afghan refugees transferred to the United States after the departure of U.S. forces.
The New York Times claims that he was shot and died in his automobile in this parking lot.
Hussein has been regarded as a compassionate, diligent, and friendly individual.
On the day he was murdered, according to a representative from one of the local mosques, he attended the funerals of two other victims and voiced concern about the shootings.
Al Jazeera said that the Council on American Islamic Relations requested the White House last week to take a ‘direct role in reacting to this killing rampage’ Muslim-American groups and activists have subsequently called on the federal government to deploy resources to locate the perpetrator.
President Joe Biden delivered a statement expressing his disgust and sorrow for the heinous crimes.
Michelle Lujan Grisham, the governor of New Mexico, called the killings “completely abhorrent” and pledged to do all necessary to help the state’s expanding Muslim community.
She stated on Twitter last Saturday, ‘I am sending extra State Police officers to Albuquerque to work in close collaboration with APD and the FBI to bring the murderer or murders to justice, and they WILL be caught.’
The New York Times notes that in recent years, local leaders in Albuquerque have worked to reinforce the city’s reputation as a “immigrant-friendly city” by prohibiting federal immigration officers from visiting city-operated facilities and city personnel from gathering immigration status information.
There are now at least eight mosques in the area, and municipal authorities have lately increased outreach efforts by employing interpreters fluent in Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Urdu, and Pashto. He claimed he left Ahmadi at the business to finish cooking, and he believes his brother was shot about 6 p.m. while smoking a cigarette.
Hadi said, “When I left at 5 o’clock, he was lying down in the rear.”
Someone contacted me at home and said, “Sharief, what’s going on in your store?” When I returned, the cops were everywhere.
In January, Hadi expressed his confusion on the unsolved murder.
He said, “I have nothing to tell you.” “He is my sibling. He loved me, and I loved him.
Aftab Hussein, who arrived to New Mexico in 2016, was the second Muslim man to be slain eight months later.
Hussein, a local café busser, leased a second-floor apartment with two roommates near the Mesa Verde Community Center and told them he was just engaged to a lady in Pakistan.
His buddy Iftikhar Amirjan told The Albuquerque Journal that he was attempting to get his passport and other travel papers so he could fly to Pakistan and be married.
“He was really content. He added, “I’ll travel to Pakistan, get married, and bring my wife here,” and “I’ll create my life,” Amirjan said.
He said, “I will own a home and have children in the future.”
Hussein was shot in the parking lot of his apartment complex on the evening of July 26.
Since then, his terrified roommates have moved out, and Hussein’s brother has come in from the United Kingdom.
Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, a well-known local community activist and municipal planner, was assassinated outside of his house on July 26.
Born in Pakistan, he immigrated to the United States in 2017 to get a master’s degree in community and regional planning at the University of New Mexico. From 2019 to 2020, he served as president of the Graduate and Professional Student Association.
He worked on Melanie Stansbury’s campaign for Congress before accepting a position as the director of planning and land use for the city of Espaola, 90 miles north of Albuquerque.
Hussein had been commuting for the last year, but intended to relocate to Espaola.
Muhammad Imtiaz Hussain, an ex-prosecutor who went to the U.S. in 2014 to finish his legal studies, had been residing with his sibling along with his two young children.
The municipal manager of Espaola, Jordan Yutzy, said that the team was in astonishment.
Yutzy said, “He will be sincerely missed by the city.”
He was very intelligent, devoted, and concerned about the community as a whole. His will be quite large shoes to fill for the city. The University of New Mexico said that it was ‘deeply grieved to learn of the unfortunate and abrupt death of a valued alumnus’ who was a ‘distinguished student leader and vivacious individual.’
UNM President Garnett Stokes said, “Muhammad was an exemplary leader and a really unique Lobo who affected so many people.” It was an honor to know and work with him.
Stansbury tweeted, “As we mourn the unfathomable loss of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, law enforcement has provided additional evidence suggesting that his shooting may be connected to the killings of Mohammad Admadi and Aftab Hussein in our neighborhood.”
“We are working closely with federal, state, and local partners to safeguard our Muslim, immigrant, and Middle Eastern populations and bring the perpetrators to justice.” Our communities will not allow any type of hatred.
Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said, “Muhammad Afzaal Hussain was a cornerstone of the UNM community and an extraordinary force for good.”
According to law enforcement authorities, his death may be related to the killings of two other Muslim males in Albuquerque. Violence motivated by racism and hatred has no place in New Mexico.
And Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said that the city would continue to “stand with our Muslim neighbors.”
Albuquerque will not accept violence against community members based on their ethnicity or religion, he stated in a statement.
