A 46-year-old man, named by police as Craig Stephen Hicks, has been arrested on suspicion of three counts of first-degree murder.

Hicks appeared briefly in court Wednesday morning, during which he spoke only to answer that he understood the charges and to confirm an indigency affidavit.

District Judge Marcia Morey said he would be appointed a public defender and held without bond until a 4 March hearing.

Hicks described himself as an atheist on Facebook and posted regular images and text condemning all religions. Police said he handed himself in last night.

In a statement released on Wednesday morning (local time), Chapel Hill Police said that a preliminary investigation suggested the crime was “motivated by an ongoing neighbour dispute over parking”.

But the women’s father, Dr Mohammad Abu-Salha, who has a psychiatry practice in Clayton, told the North Carolina News and Observer that he believed the shooting was based on the religion and culture of the victims.

"This was not a dispute over a parking space; this was a hate crime," he said.

He went on to allege that Hicks had "picked on" his daughter and her husband "a couple times before." 

"They were uncomfortable with him, but they did not know he would go this far," he said.

Police chief Chris Blue called the killing “senseless and tragic” and said the force's “thoughts are with the families and friends of these young people who lost their lives so needlessly”.

He said: “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.”

A 46-year-old man, named by police as Craig Stephen Hicks, has been arrested on suspicion of three counts of first-degree murder The shooting has been met with an outpouring of anger on social media, where people posting new pictures of the victims studying and playing basketball claimed they had been “murdered execution style”.

Some compared the incident to the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, and others called on Barack Obama and senior religious figures to condemn the attacks.

An American football and basketball fan, Mr Barakat was believed to be a dental student at the University of North Carolina and volunteered with a charity providing emergency dental care to children in Palestine.

He regularly posted on Twitter, and wrote in January: “It's so freaking sad to hear people saying we should ‘kill Jews’ or ‘kill Palestinians’. As if that's going to solve anything.”

UNC officials said Mr Barakat and Yusor Abu-Salha got married less than two months ago, in late December. She had been planning to begin her own dental studies in Chapel Hill this autumn.

Hope this killer gets 100 years plus. Senseless!