The Muslim community in Albuquerque is in distress over the news that police believe the son of the prime suspect in the killing of four Muslim men may have been involved in the murders, Reuters reports. Shaheen Syed, 21, was in the same area as his father at the time of the killing of 25-year-old truck entrepreneur Naeem Hussain on August 5. Shaheen Syed was arrested last week on federal firearms charges for providing a false address. John Anderson, his attorney, called the allegations “exceedingly thin and speculative.” Last week, police charged Shaheen Syed's father, Muhammad Syed, 51, with two of the murders and linked the four killings to personal grudges, possibly fueled by intra-Muslim sectarian hatred.
Based on FBI anyalsis of cell tower data, police believe Shaheen Syed watched Hussain leaving a funeral service on Aug. 5 for two of the murdered Muslim men. He then followed Hussain and shot him dead in the parking lot. "Telephone calls between Muhammad Atif Syed and the defendant (Shaheen Syed) would be consistent with quick surveillance calls, both before and after the shooting," a court filing said. Imtiaz Hussain, the brother of the deceased man, believes at least two people were involved in the murder of his brother Muhammad Afzaal Hussain on Aug 1. Afzaal Hussain, a city planning director, was shot 15 times in around 15 to 20 seconds with a pistol and rifle. Imtiaz Hussain doubts that suspect would be able to use two weapons in a short time span. Naeem Hussain and Afzaal Hussain were not related. Muhammad Syed has been charged with killing Afzaal Hussain, and cafe manager Aftab Hussein, 41. A fourth man, supermarket owner Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, was shot dead on Nov. 7, 2021.
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