“I have to cry right now every day without him,” Sharief Hadi, brother of murdered Mohammad Ahmadi said while fighting through tears. “What kind of life is that? What is happening?”
Ahmadi was killed in November while working at the store he owned with Hadi, 62, in the Albuquerque area. Hadi said he moved to the United States from Afghanistan to start a new life.
“I have to go there every day. Every minute,” Hadi said. “We came to the United States to live in peace but I haven’t seen any peace here.”
Police officially linked the string of killings together Monday, with Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller saying there was “a very, very strong link.”
The most recent killing happened Friday night, when a man was ambushed and shot, KRQE reported. The man who KRQE identified as Naeem Hussain, was found dead after police received a call of a shooting. The other two victims — Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41 — were killed in the past week, and both were from Pakistan and members of the same mosque.
Police released a photo of a vehicle they say is involved in the killings: a dark gray or silver Volkswagen sedan, a Jetta or Passat, with tinted windows. The photo highlights possible damage to the front driver’s side wheel and rear driver’s side wheel and fender.
Investigators did not say where the images were taken or what led them to suspect the car was involved in the slayings. Police spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said in an email Monday that the agency has received tips regarding the car but did not elaborate.
The killings have sent ripples of fear through Islamic communities in New Mexico and beyond and fueled a race to find who was responsible. Keller said the killings are keeping the Muslim community from functioning normally.
“Members of our Muslim community who are afraid to participate in everyday activities that they should never be afraid to do things like shopping, things like praying things, like going to school,” Keller said.
Few anti-Muslim hate crimes have been recorded in Albuquerque over the last five years, according to FBI data cited by Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a professor of criminal justice at California State University at San Bernardino.
From 2017 through 2020, there was one anti-Muslim hate crime a year. The highest recent number was in 2016, when Albuquerque police recorded six out of a total of 25 hate crimes.
Albuquerque authorities say they cannot determine if the slayings were hate crimes until they have identified a suspect and a motive. Officials have not determined if one or more people are involved in the killings.
Altaf Hussain cries over the grave of his brother Aftab Hussein at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. A funeral service was held for Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, at the Islamic Center of New Mexico on Friday. Both Muslim men were shot and killed near their homes only six days apart. Law enforcement believes one suspect could be responsible for killing three Muslim men in the past nine months. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
People sprinkle dirt over the grave of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. A funeral service was held for Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, at the Islamic Center of New Mexico on Friday. Both Muslim men were shot and killed near their homes only six days apart. Law enforcement believes one suspect could be responsible for killing three Muslim men in the past nine months. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
People spread dirt over Aftab Hussein’s grave at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. A funeral service was held for Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, at the Islamic Center of New Mexico on Friday. Both Muslim men were shot and killed near their homes only six days apart. Law enforcement believes one suspect could be responsible for killing three Muslim men in the past nine months. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Ahmad Assed, president of the Islamic Center of New Mexico, speaks during a news conference to address the killing of a fourth Muslim man that happened early Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, in Albuquerque, N.M., during a news conference. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Raul Bujanda, FBI special agent, speaks during a news conference to address the killing of a fourth Muslim man that happened early Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, in Albuquerque, N.M., during a news conference at the ADP headquarters. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
An Imam leads a group of men during the Dhuhr afternoon prayer at the Islamic Center of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022, after the fourth Muslim man was murdered in the city. Authorities investigating the killings of four Muslim men said they are looking for help finding a vehicle believed to be connected to the deaths in New Mexico’s largest city. A Muslim man was killed Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Albuquerque, and ambush shootings killed three other Muslim men over the past nine months. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Albuquerque Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Cecily Barker holds a flyer with photos of a car wanted in connection with Muslim men murdered as Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham looks on in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Authorities investigating the killings of four Muslim men said they are looking for help finding a vehicle believed to be connected to the deaths in New Mexico’s largest city. A Muslim man was killed Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Albuquerque, and ambush shootings killed three other Muslim men over the past nine months. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Altaf Hussain cries over the grave of his brother Aftab Hussein at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. A funeral service was held for Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, at the Islamic Center of New Mexico on Friday. Both Muslim men were shot and killed near their homes only six days apart. Law enforcement believes one suspect could be responsible for killing three Muslim men in the past nine months. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina address another killing of a Muslim man that happened early Saturday morning in Albuquerque, during a news conference at the ADP headquarters in Downtown Albuquerque on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
A young man bows during the Dhuhr afternoon prayer at the Islamic Center of New Mexico, Sunday Aug. 7, 2022, after the fourth Muslim man was murdered in Albuquerque. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
This undated photo released by the City of Española shows Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, a planning and land use director who was killed in Albuquerque, N.M., on Aug. 1, 2022. Hussain is one of four victims in a series of killings of Muslim men in New Mexico’s largest city as the deaths sent ripples of fear through the religious community nationwide. (City of Española via AP)
This Wanted poster released Sunday, Aug 7, 2022, by the Albuquerque Police Department shows a vehicle suspected of being used as a conveyance in the recent homicides of four Muslim men in Albuquerque, N.M. Police investigating whether the killings are connected say they need help finding the vehicle believed to be connected to the deaths. Police say the vehicle sought is a dark gray or silver, four-door Volkswagen Jetta with dark tinted windows. (Albuquerque Police Department via AP)
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
