THOUSANDS ATTEND CHAPEL HILL STUDENTS VIGIL
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 23 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/13 February 2015 (MINA) – About two thousand students, faculty and members of the community gathered in North Carolina University for a vigil on Wednesday evening to remember and pay tribute to the three young Muslim-Americans who were brutally murdered a day earlier.
“Deah and Yusor both bought me my first dentistry school sweater so we could announce it together,” Nada Salem, a friend of Deah Shaddy Barakat and Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha told mourners as her voice filled with emotion, Wral.com reported, On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
“Two days ago, she sent me a picture of us in our matching sweaters, excited about us starting together.”
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.
Salem spoke in front of thousands during a vigil Wednesday night inside The Pit, a popular student gathering spot at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
People held candles as they gathered to remember the three victims, who were found shot in the head Tuesday evening. Committing violence or any other acts of retaliation will do no good, said Barakat’s brother, Farris, who also spoke during the vigil.
“I plead that you live in their legacy, that you share the good that you know of them, and take the message my mom wanted to make public and do not fight fire with fire,” he said.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, who lives in the complex, surrendered to Chatham County authorities following the shootings and is charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
Investigators believe the triple-shooting was over a possible parking dispute, although authorities said they haven’t ruled out the possibility that the murders were hate crime.
Selfless
The victims were known as activits in the community, who volunteered to offer help to the homeless, Africa children and Syrian refugees as well.
They were known as caring for others and thinking of more than themselves, especially when it came to children.
Barakat activism started at Broughton High School, where he worked on a project to raise money for children in Africa.
“He had a huge happy heart and he was infectious,” said Myra Smith, the school’s International Baccalaureate program coordinator.
“Obviously, the work he was doing and heading toward, the whole world loses.”
In a YouTube video, Barakat asked for donations for an upcoming trip to Turkey to provide dental care for Syrian refugees.
A friend of Barakat said that the late talked about opening a clinic for children after finishing dental school.
“I just can’t explain how impactful he is in everybody’s life, especially mine,” said Imad Ahmad, his friend and former roommate.
“I was in a troubled state when I met him and as soon as I met him he became a foundation for me.”
Barakat, a Syrian-American, majored in business administration and management at NCSU before enrolling at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2013 to pursue his doctorate in dental surgery.
According to News Observer, he and his young wife Yusor advocated for global dental health, providing care and supplies to people in the United States and the Middle East.
On Jan. 29, Barakat posted a Facebook photo of a Durham project that gave dental supplies and food to more than 75 homeless people this year.
Barakat was scheduled to travel with 10 other dentists this summer to Reyhanli, Turkey, in a campaign organized by UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry and the Syrian-American Medical Society.
There, they planned to treat Syrian refugee students for urgent dental needs, pass out toothbrushes and toothpaste, and support Turkish dentists and clinics in “Project: Refuge Smiles”. (T/P011/P3)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
