Suspect Detained in Killings of Muslim Men in New Mexico

Police Chief Harold Medina wrote on Twitter Tuesday afternoon that police detained a person he recognized as a main suspect within the string of killings that began in November and accelerated over the previous few weeks.

In current days, Albuquerque police launched images of a silver

Volkswagen

sedan they believed was used within the shootings.

The police chief stated authorities would share extra particulars on the suspect later Tuesday.

For days, the town’s Muslim residents have been distraught as police scoured the town for the suspect. New Mexico Gov.

Michelle Lujan Grisham

dispatched further State Law enforcement officials to assist discover the killer.

Fearing they’d be subsequent, some native Muslim residents stayed dwelling from work or lower hours at their jobs, stated Ahmad Assed, president and authorized counsel for the Islamic Middle of New Mexico. Others stopped attending native mosques for prayers. Nonetheless others briefly left the state till police made an arrest, he stated.

Mr. Assed had been telling group members to chorus from taking pointless journeys out and asking that they use the “buddy system” of touring with a good friend or member of the family once they do depart.

“This group is in concern. We’re confused, in shock and emotionally drained,” Mr. Assed stated in an interview earlier this week.

Based on Mr. Assed, the victims of the shootings have been well-respected and never recognized to have any public disputes.

Mohammad Zaher Ahmadi, 62 years previous, initially from Afghanistan, was fatally shot within the early night of Nov. 7 behind the bakery he ran along with his brother, based on Mr. Assed and police accounts.

Aftab Hussein, 41, an area restaurant employee from Pakistan, was killed late on the evening of July 26.

The next week, on the evening of Aug. 1, Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, was discovered shot useless on an Albuquerque sidewalk. Mr. Assed stated Mr. Hussain, who he knew personally, hailed from Pakistan, labored as a metropolis planner in Española, north of Santa Fe, and was energetic in native civic circles.

U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury stated Mr. Hussain had labored as a discipline organizer on her marketing campaign in New Mexico. She referred to as him “one of many kindest and hardest working individuals I’ve ever recognized.”

Late final Friday, 25-year-old Naeem Hussein, a Pakistani immigrant who labored as a truck driver was discovered shot to demise, based on police and Mr. Assed. Hours earlier, Mr. Hussein had attended funeral companies for the 2 Muslim males killed earlier than him and attended a lunch for the group after the burial on the Islamic Middle, Mr. Assed stated.

Write to Dan Frosch at dan.frosch@wsj.com and Alicia A. Caldwell at Alicia.Caldwell@wsj.com