Albuquerque police said in a statement they found the body of a fourth victim overnight Friday through Saturday. She did not identify him but said he was in his twenties, Muslim and “from South Asia”.
“Investigators believe this murder may be linked to three recent killings of Muslim men also from South Asia,” the statement said.
Among these victims, two are Pakistani, one was 27 when his body was found on August 1, and the other 41, whose body was found on July 26, both this year.
Detectives are now investigating whether these murders are linked to the death of an Afghani man who was killed on November 7, 2021 outside the business he ran with his brother in Albuquerque, the statement details.
Police ordered anyone with information to call a hotline and said the FBI was assisting in the investigation.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed outrage at the attacks and said she stood in solidarity with the Muslim community in the southwestern US state.
“The targeted killings of Muslim residents of Albuquerque spark deep anger and are completely intolerable,” Ms. Lujan Grisham tweeted.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), America’s largest Muslim civil rights group, announced on Saturday that it is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to the suspect’s arrest. .
“This tragedy affects not just the Muslim community, but all Americans,” noted Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director. “We must be united once morest hatred and violence, regardless of the race, faith or origin of the victims and perpetrators.”
