Two men were shot dead leaving their Mosque in Queens last Saturday afternoon. Both were shot in the head from the behind by an unidentified man.
Maulama Akonjee, 55, was one of the victims and was the imam (an Islamic leadership position, often referred to as worship leader) at the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque. The other victim, Thara Uddin, 64, was a second community leader who assisted Akonjee at the mosque.
NYPD stated Saturday that they did not know the motive for the shooting. “At this time, it does not look like it has anything to do with their race or their religion,” said Officer Tiffany Phillips to The Washington Post.
Police have yet to make an arrest, but they have interviewed witnesses and have watched surveillance videos featuring the man approaching the victims, then quickly fleeing following the shooting.
Oscar Morel, 35, is charged with first and second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in their deaths This man was taken into custody Sunday evening in connection to that crash.
No motive has been ascertained but “hate crime has not been ruled out.”
Shahin Chowdhury, a worshipper at the mosque had told the Associated Press that the members had felt more animosity from the local community lately.
Residents of Ozone Park where the crimes occurred were stunned by the horrific incident, especially in broad daylight since the quiet community is a regarded as a safe area.
Police have said they are taking this matter very seriously and are not ruling out that it was a hate crime just yet. Both men were dressed in their religious garb when attacked.
Hundreds gathered in NYC Monday for the victims’ funeral. “We want justice,” said Badrul Kahn, founder of the Al-Furqan mosque and its chief adviser to the crowd.
Bill de Blasio, NYC’s mayor also addressed the crowd at the funeral promising to find out what and why these murdered happened. “We don’t know what happened but we will,” said the mayor. “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”
Editor’s note: Naturally Donald Trump has been blamed and protests made the national media. There were about 350 murders in NYC last year, I’m sure the Democrats would like to blame them all on Trump.