TEEN ARRESTED FOR SHOOTING DALLAS MUSLIM
Dallas, Texas, 24 Jumadal Awwal 1436/15 March 2015 (MINA) – A 17-year-old teen has been arrested in the murder of American Muslim who was shot while taking photos of the snow in Dallas, as police ruled out that the attack was a hate crime.
“We don’t believe that he knew Ahmed Al-Jumaili. We don’t believe that he knew Al-Jumaili’s ethnicity,” said Dallas Police Major Jeff Cotner, BBC reported on Friday (13/3), On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
According to Dallas police, Nykerion Nealon shot Al-Jumaili, 36, and his wife, who wears an Islamic head scarf or hijab.
Police say witnesses saw two men heading in opposite directions walk by and then come back and shoot Al-Jumaili who was taking photos of the first snow in his life.
As the investigations continue, a bias motive has not been ruled out.
After the shooting, the victim’s wife called 911 to report the shooting of her husband.
Several cars parked in the apartment complex were hit, including a truck that was struck with eight bullets.
Al-Jumaili had just moved to the United States and Dallas from Iraq when he was killed. He reunited with his bride for just three weeks.
Nealon, who fired at least 15 shots, said that he was seeking revenge after targeting his girlfriend’s home.
“When he saw Al-Jumaili and their family, he targeted them, he shot at them with intent,” Dallas Police Maj. Jeff Cotner said of the suspect, CNN reported.
“And as Al-Jumaili ran back toward his apartment, he tracked him with his rifle and continued to fire.”
Last week, friends and neighbors of slain Jumaili have gathered at a prayer vigil, pleading for the public to step forward with information on his killing.
The vigil was held under the title “silence the violence” in front of the Walnut Bend apartment complex Ahmed Al-Jumaili called home.
The shooting is not the first to target American Muslims.
Last month, three young American Muslims, Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23 his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21 and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were found dead at a condominium complex off campus.
The gunman, identified as 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks, reportedly turned himself into police.
An Economist/YouGov poll found that a large majority of Americans believe that US Muslims are victims of discrimination amid recent attacks against the community. (T/P006/P3)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
