Chapel Hill police: Parking dispute may have led to triple shooting

Chapel Hill, N.C. Chapel Hill police said Wednesday that an ongoing dispute over parkingmay have led to atriple shooting Tuesday night at a condominium complex on Summerwalk Circle.

Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife,Yusor Mohammad, 21,and her sister,Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19.

Hicks turned himself in to the Chatham County Sheriffs Office in Pittsboro following the shooting, which happened in the Finley Forest complex off Barbee Chapel Road shortly after 5 p.m.

All threevictims were shot in the head, sources said.

The three victims were Muslim, and Hicks is not, according to posts about atheism on his Facebook page. In thousands of posts on social media, many have now questioned whether the victims' Islamic faith was a factor in the shooting.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest civil advocacy group for Muslims, called on law enforcement officials Wednesday to address speculation about a motive for the killings.

"Based on the brutal nature of this crime, the past anti-religion statements of the alleged perpetrator, the religious attire of two of the victimsand 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,"CAIRNational Executive DirectorNihadAwadsaid in a statement. "Our heartfelt condolences go to the families and loved ones of the victims and to the local community."

Police said Wednesday that they are looking into whatled to the "senseless and tragic act."

"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," Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue said in a statement."Our thoughts are with the families and friends of these young people who lost their lives so needlessly."

U.S. Rep David Price, D-NC, released a statement Wednesday about the shooting, expressing his condolences to the community and referencing the possibility of the crime being motivated by bias.

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Chapel Hill police: Parking dispute may have led to triple shooting