Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the Tuesday shooting, Chapel Hill police said. He appeared briefly in court Wednesday morning.
The victims were identified as Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, of Chapel Hill; Yusor Mohammad, 21, of Chapel Hill; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh. Barakat and Mohammad were married, and Abu-Salha was Mohammad’s sister, according to UNC.
A Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization raised concerns about the motive and asked authorities to address speculation—much of it on social media—about possible anti-Muslim bias.
“Based on the brutal nature of this crime … the religious attire of two of the victims, and the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in American society, we urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to quickly address speculation of a possible bias motive in this case,” said Nihad Awad, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
In the statement from Chapel Hill police, Chief Chris Blue said, “We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated, and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case.”
Abdullah Antepli, director of Muslim affairs at nearby Duke University, issued a statement calling for people not to jump to conclusions over the motive for the killings.
