An alleged argument that started as a confrontation about a parking spot resulted in the deaths of three North Carolina college students. Police reported that the murder of the students started when they were arguing over a parking space, but a Muslim father of one of the two of the victim’s claims that the killer, who is also their neighbor, menaced the young girls prior to the incident and was full of hatred towards them.
“Honest to God, he hates us for what we are and how we look,” the father claims that his daughter stated about Hicks.
Craig Stephen Hicks, a 46 year old man from North Carolina has been arrested for the crime and is being charged with three counts of first degree murder for the deaths of Shaddy Barakat, his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha,
Hicks reportedly turned himself in to the authorities in Chapel Hill.
A Facebook page set up in his name states that Hicks is a supporter of “Atheists for Equality” and “radical Christians and radical Muslims,” gave some insight into some of the motives behind the killings.
The police gave a statement to Raleigh News-Observer, which described the shooting as, “It was execution-style, a bullet in every head.”
Attorney Ripley Rand told reporters, “This obviously is a very new investigation. The events of yesterday are not part of a targeting campaign against Muslims in North Carolina. This appears, at this point, to be an isolated incident.”
Investigators are going to try and get to the bottom of what really sparked the confrontation between the two parties and to determine if the killing was really inspired by racial prejudice towards the Muslim family.
Photo By: Durham County Sheriff’s Department