Parking spat linked to N.C. killing of 3 Muslim students
Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY 
(Photo: Our Three Winners/Facebook)
An ongoing dispute over an apartment parking space may have led to the shooting deaths of three Muslim college students in North Carolina, but investigators are trying to determine if the killings could also have been hate-motivated, police said Wednesday.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, who turned himself in to the Chatham County Sheriff's Office, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings Tuesday afternoon at an apartment building in Chapel Hill.
The victims, all shot in the head, were identified as Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, and his wife, Yusor Mohammad, 21, of Chapel Hill, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh, police said. The two female victims were sisters.
Friends posted a Facebook page in their honor on Wednesday.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, shown in a booking photo was arrested in connection with the shooting of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, N.C. , Feb.10. 2015. (Photo: Durham County Sheriff's office)
It was not immediately clear if the religion of the victims was a factor in the shootings.
Police said an ongoing dispute over a parking space may have led to the killings, but that investigators were looking into the reasons behind the "senseless and tragic act."
"We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case," Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with the families and friends of these young people who lost their lives so needlessly."
Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council of American Islamic Relations, called on authorities Wednesday to determine as quickly as possible whether religion was a factor in the killings.
"Based on the brutal nature of this crime, the past anti-religion statements of the alleged perpetrator, the religious attire of two of the victims, and the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in American society, we urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to quickly address speculation of a possible bias motive in this case," Awad said in a statement.
The killings triggered an outcry overnight on Twitter -- under the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter -- by those who feel the victims were marked by their religion.
The triple-murder in this quiet college town shocked friends and neighbors.
"It's a very quiet community," resident Bethany Boring told WRAL-TV. "It's a lot of graduate and professional students. You know, professional families."
Barakat, a second-year dental student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Yusor Mohammad were married in late December. They traveled to Turkey last year to provide free dental care to students, according to their friends' Facebook page.
Contributing: Associated Press