A well-liked city worker who had aspirations of a future in politics and a proud new U.S. citizen are among the victims of a spate of shootings police say may be related.
However, the murders of Mohammad Ahmadi, Mohammad Afzal Hussain, Aftab Hussain and Naeem Hussain have one obvious similarity: They were all South Asian Muslims, according to Albuquerque police.
Here’s what we know about the lives lost. CNN will continue to update this story with more details as we learn them:
Mohammad Zaher Ahmadi, 62
Mohammad Ahmadi was shot and killed outside a business he and his brother ran together in November 2021, according to CNN affiliate KOAT.
According to police, Ahmadi is from Afghanistan.
Muhammad Afzal Hussain, 27
Muhammad Imtiaz Hussain has been living with his brother Muhammad Afzal Hussain in the same apartment complex for almost five years and has never had any problems.
The brothers came to the U.S. on student visas, studying at the University of New Mexico, and often took early morning or late evening walks to the university’s library without fear for their safety — until now.
Afzal Hussain was shot, killed and found on a sidewalk on Aug. 1, his face distorted by gunshot wounds, Imtiaz Hussain said.
“This is not an accidental killing,” said Imtiaz Hussain, who had to witness his brother’s wounds for himself. “This is extremely motivated and extremely hateful.
Afzaal Hussain was beloved by all and a student leader excited about a future in politics after receiving American citizenship.
“We are in extreme fear,” Imtiaz Hussain said. “Living in this place is very painful.
Hussain worked on the planning team for the city of Hispaniola. He studied law and human resource management at the University of the Punjab in Pakistan before earning master’s and bachelor’s degrees in community and regional planning from the University of New Mexico, according to a news release from Española Mayor John Ramon Vigil.
“Muhammad was soft-spoken and kind, and quick to laugh,” Vigil said in a news release last Wednesday. “He was well respected and liked by his colleagues and members of the community.”
Naeem Hussain, 25
Naeem Hussain, 25, had been an American citizen for less than a month when he became the next shooting victim found by Albuquerque police officers just before midnight Friday.
His son-in-law Ehsan Shahalami identified Hussian to CNN on Sunday and said he had emigrated as a refugee from Pakistan in 2016 – fleeing persecution as a Shia Muslim.
“He had a lot of dreams and he made some of them come true,” Shahalami said. “His others were cut short by this heinous act.
Hours before his own death, Hussain attended the funerals of two of the latest victims and expressed concern about the shooting, said Tahir Gauba, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of New Mexico.
Hussein worked as a truck driver for several years out of Albuquerque, a job he took great pride in, according to Shahalami.
“He wasn’t even a citizen at the time, but he was saying, ‘This is our country, these people need us more than any other time,’ so he was working extra shifts to keep things going,” Shahalami said.
After becoming a U.S. citizen, Hussain opened his own trucking business, had plans to bring his wife over from Pakistan and was interested in buying property in Virginia, according to Shahalami.
“He was the most generous, kind, giving, patient and down-to-earth person I could ever meet,” he said. “He was a very hard worker.”
Hussain didn’t just work to support himself — he shared his earnings with his family at home, Shahalami said.
After the funerals Friday, Gauba said, Hussein attended a luncheon at the mosque and approached him to ask if he had more information about the shootings.
“We (the Islamic Center of New Mexico) thought that after the funeral of these two young men (Friday) we would have closure and move forward and let law enforcement investigate,” Gauba said. “Waking up on Saturday morning to his (Naeem Hussain) death, the whole community just feels helpless. There is a lot of fear.”
About 700 to 800 Muslims on Friday attend the Islamic Center of New Mexico, Albuquerque’s largest mosque, founded in the mid-1970s, according to Gauba.
Aftab Hussain, 41
Aftab Hussain is a Muslim from Pakistan, police said.
CNN’s Nouran Salahieh contributed to this report.
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