US police ask for help in investigation of 4 killings of Muslims
Police in the US state of New Mexico have asked for people to help find a "vehicle of interest" in their investigation into the murders of four Muslims that investigators believe were linked to killings in Albuquerque over the past nine months.
Mayor Tim Keeler said state authorities are working to create an "extra police presence at mosques during prayer times" as investigations continue in New Mexico's largest city, where up to 5,000 Muslims live out of a population of about 565,000.
Police said the latest fatality was shot dead Friday night, in a crime local Islamist leaders said occurred shortly after he attended the funerals of two others killed in the past two weeks.
The three men, as well as the first person to be shot dead in November, were Muslims of Pakistani or Afghani descent and resided in Albuquerque.
Police gave few details of the latest killing, but described the first three killings as ambush shootings, and New Mexico Governor Michelle Logan Grisham described them as "targeted killings of Muslims".
US President Joe Biden posted a message on Twitter on Sunday expressing his solidarity with the Muslim community.
"These hateful attacks have no place in America," he added.
Albuquerque police officials said in a press conference that they were following a number of leads, and released a pamphlet with pictures of a gray four-door sedan with darkened windows, which they described as an "important vehicle" in the investigation.
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