A family of three young Muslims have been shot dead at their home - causing fury and sparking fears of community tension.
Police officers responding to reports of gunshots in North Carolina, US,
found the dead bodies of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor
Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19.
Local
news stations in Chapel Hill reported that all three victims - who
lived east of the University of North Carolina campus - had been shot in
the head shortly after 5pm last night.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was arrested by detectives and has been charged
with three counts of first-degree murder. He is being held at the
Durham County Jail.
The deaths has resulted in angry messages on social media, with some
claiming they had been executed and compared the murders to the Charlie
Hebdo shootings in Paris. A 46-year-old man, named by police as Craig Stephen Hicks, has been arrested on suspicion of three counts of first-degree murder
Adham Kassem wrote: “I want to see protests, I want to see news
coverage, I want to see marches, I want the same outrage expressed in
France.”
Zain Khan added: “RIP to the three Muslims murdered. I’d like to see the same public uproar as the CharlieHebdo aftermath.”
As reported by the Independent, Mr Barakat was thought to be a dental student at the University of North Carolina.
The basketball fan often used Twitter, and wrote recently: “It’s so
freaking sad to hear people saying we should ‘kill Jews’ or ‘kill
Palestinians’. As if that’s going to solve anything.”
A Facebook page in the memory of the three victims has now been created, called “Our Three Winners”.
A family of three young Muslims have been shot dead at their home - causing fury and sparking fears of community tension.
Local
news stations in Chapel Hill reported that all three victims - who
lived east of the University of North Carolina campus - had been shot in
the head shortly after 5pm last night.
