Albuquerque police release body cam video of man suspected of murdering Muslim men being arrested
By: The Albuquerque Police Department released body camera video of officers arresting the man who is being charged with the murder of two Muslim men and suspected of killing two other Muslim men in New Mexico.
Muhammad Syed, 51, was arrested in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, on late Monday night when police were planning to execute a search warrant at his Albuquerque home but saw him leave in a gray Volkswagen Jetta, then stopped him over 100 miles away, police said.
Body camera video from police officers who arrested Syed shows that there was a brief struggle before he was taken into custody.
Syed denied being involved in the murders, but police have charged him with two counts of murder and say he is "most likely" connected with the murder of two other Muslims.
Albuquerque Police Department Deputy Police Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock said that they are still trying to find a motive.
"We do have some information about those events taking place, but we're not really clear if that was the actual motive, or if it was part of a motive, or if there's just a bigger picture that we're missing," Hartstock said.
Police said during the press conference that they have evidence showing that Syed "knew the victims to some extent and an interpersonal conflict may have led to the shootings."
Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, 27, was killed on Aug. 1, and Aftab Hussein, 41, was killed on July 27. The men were Muslim and from Pakistan, police said.
Naeem Hussain, who was from Pakistan, was killed on Aug. 5. Mohammad Ahmadi, a Muslim from Afghanistan, was killed in November.
Muhammad Afzaal Hussain was a planning and land use director for the City of Española, and would have celebrated his one-year anniversary in his position shortly after he was killed.
A criminal complaint states that Syed told investigators that he has "known Naeem Hussain since 2016 and recognized Aftab Hussein from parties in the community."