Campaign aide to U.S. lawmaker among 4 Muslims killed in New Mexico

The tightknit Muslim community in Albuquerque was rocked by the killings of two Muslim men within a week’s span of each other this summer. After funerals were held Friday for the two men, “we thought, OK, we’re going to catch a little breather,” said Tahir Gauba, director of public affairs at the Islamic Center of New Mexico.

But later that night, another Muslim man from the community became the latest victim in a string of killings that officials suspect are linked.

Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, who was fatally shot on Monday, worked on the campaign team of Rep. Melanie Ann Stansbury, D-N.M., the congresswoman said during a news conference Sunday.

She described him as “a kind, funny, brilliant, amazing young man from Pakistan who came to the United States to pursue his career and his life’s dream and to study at the University of New Mexico.”

The most recent victim, Naeem Hussain, had attended the funerals of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41, on Friday before heading to the center for a post-service meal, Gauba said in a phone interview. Naeem Hussain, who was in his mid-20s, and the other two men were “regulars” at the Islamic center, Gauba said. (Though the men share a common surname, they were not related, he said.)

Naeem Hussain, who had taken the oath of citizenship just a month earlier and dreamed of being an entrepreneur, was found dead Friday evening shortly before midnight. His body was discovered in the parking lot of Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, a nonprofit that provides adoption and refugee services.

The police said his identity was not yet “positively confirmed,” but Gauba said he had spoken with Naeem Hussain’s family about his death.

Officials also said Sunday that they had identified a “vehicle of interest” - a dark-colored Volkswagen Jetta or Passat. It is possible the vehicle is damaged, officials added. They did not disclose further details but asked the public for tips or information about the car.

As of Sunday, authorities said they had not yet determined a motive for the killings.

Albuquerque detectives have “determined there is a connection” between the two earlier killings and suspect that the latest “may be linked,” the police said in a statement on Saturday. Detectives are also probing whether the November killing of Mohammad Ahmadi outside a business he ran with his brother was connected. (Gauba said Ahmadi was not a regular member at the Islamic center.)

Aftab Hussein was from Afghanistan but had passed through Pakistan before coming to the United States, Gauba said. Naeem Hussain and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain were from Pakistan and Ahmadi was from Afghanistan, according to police.

Albuquerque police had said the three earlier killings were done in a similar fashion - “ambushed with no warning, fired on and killed,” the Associated Press reported - but declined at a news conference on Saturday to say whether Friday’s killing followed the same pattern.

The FBI’s Albuquerque office is assisting Albuquerque police in the investigation, said Frank Fisher, a spokesman for the office.

Ehsan Shahalami, Naeem Hussain’s brother-in-law, said in an interview that the family has been devastated by the killing of the man he described as “the most kind, the most giving, the most generous.” Left behind, he said, is a grieving wife, parents and siblings.

“Everybody that knew him even for an hour is crying,” said Shahalami, 37, of Virginia, “because he has touched their life.”

Naeem Hussain came to the United States in search of the American Dream, Shahalami said. He found work as a truck driver, eventually saving up enough money to buy a truck of his own. When the pandemic hit, he insisted on continuing to make deliveries, saying that “the country and people need us more than any time.”

He took the oath of citizenship on July 8; with that milestone behind him, he was planning for his wife to come from Pakistan and join him in the United States. They hoped to buy a house together.

“You know, he was in love with America,” Shahalami said.

Gauba said the string of deaths has been “horrific” for the community of about 5,000 Muslims in Albuquerque, a city of more than 560,000. “I’ve been in the United States since ‘95,” Gauba said. “I’ve been through 9/11. I’ve been through the Trump era. I’ve never felt this helpless and in fear.”

“The lives of Albuquerque Muslims are in danger,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the national deputy director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “Whoever is responsible for this horrific, hateful shooting spree must be identified and stopped - now.”

CAIR, which advocates for the civil rights of Muslims in the United States, said in a statement Saturday that it was offering $10,000 for information “leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.” The organization called on the Biden administration to “take a direct role” in the matter.

President Joe Biden said he was “angered and saddened by the horrific killings.”

“While we await a full investigation, my prayers are with the victims’ families, and my Administration stands strongly with the Muslim community,” he said in a tweet. “These hateful attacks have no place in America.”

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D, said during a news conference Sunday that those responsible would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but that authorities would need community support to identify the vehicle of interest.

“We will bring this person or persons to justice,” she said. “We will provide justice to the families who have lost everything.”

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller pledged to support the local Muslim community.

“We’re also here to support the families, grieving for the losses of a loved one,” he said. “We’re also here in solidarity, in prayer, and in service for our Muslim brothers and sisters in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces in their time of need.”

Shahalami said that in his 20 years in the United States, he has seen “a lot of good in this country.” But, he added, “these pockets of things that do happen, it just paints a bad picture to the world of who we are as Americans.” He said he wanted people to know about his brother-in-law - that a “genuine, pure-hearted human being passed away, was killed in this brutal manner with all his dreams.”

He said Naeem Hussain loved the outdoors and had been excited to buy a Toyota 4Runner perfect for camping. He loved fishing so much he carried a rod in his truck, taking time between deliveries to seek out fishing spots. He let Shahalami’s two young daughters, who now cannot stop crying, put their hair clips in his beard.

“It’s not just one life they took,” Shahalami said of the unknown killer. “It’s many lives they shattered.”Local, state and federal police are asking the public for information about a vehicle that may be linked to the killings.