THE FBI has launched a serial killer probe after four Muslim men were all gunned down within a 5-mile radius in nine months across Albuquerque.
Cops said the latest victims, who has been named as Naeem Hussain, was shot just after midnight on Saturday.
Albuquerque police chief Harold Media has called on the city’s Muslim community to remain vigilante after three other men were killed under similar circumstances.
“As with the previous three murders mentioned Thursday, there is reason to believe that this death is related to those shootings,” Medina said.
Medina said he was now in contact with the FBI and leaders in the local Muslim community over the “disturbing” murders.
He said officers were working overtime to patrol Muslim neighborhoods while an investigation is on going.
Ahmad Assed, who runs the New Mexico chapter of the Islamic Center, condemned the murders.
“Our community is devastated,” he said during a press conference with police.
“We’ve never gone through anything like this before.”
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He said local Muslim families were now living “in fear of the safety of our children, of our families” and urged law enforcement to step up efforts to find and capture the perpetrator.
“Evil will not win. Hate will not win. And we will defeat evil and hate by working together,” he said.
The shocking murder came just two days after Albuqurque police held a press conference saying they believed three previous murders were linked to a serial killer.
Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, was found dead outside the cafe he ran with his brother Sharief A. Hadi on November 7.
Eight months later, 41-year-old Aftab Hussein, who had moved to New Mexico in 2016, was gunned down in the parking lot of the complex where he lived.
Aftab was slayed just months before he was set to wed in Pakistan.
On Monday, beloved community organizer and city planner Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, was murdered outside his home.
Muhammad, who moved to the US in 2017 from Pakistan to get a master’s degree, worked for a local member of Congress and was a land use director at Española, 90 miles north of Albuquerque.
Tim Keller, the mayor of Albuquerque, said the city was “standing by our Muslim neighbors”.
“While we do not have all the answers yet, what we do know is that violence against members of our community based on race or religion will not be tolerated in Albuquerque,” he said in a statement.
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More than 1,000 people attended a joint funeral for Hussein and Hussain.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is offering a $5,000 reward for information.
