A man who portrayed himself as an avowed atheist on social media was
in custody early Wednesday after allegedly gunning down three Muslim
students in a condominium complex near the University of North Carolina
hours earlier.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was charged with three counts of
first-degree murder after turning himself in to police in Chapel Hill
overnight. Police have not given a motive for the triple homicide,
although a Facebook page in Hicks' name described him as a supporter of
“Atheists for Equality” and in a recent post he asked “why radical
Christians and radical Muslims are so opposed to each others’ influence
when they agree about so many ideological issues.” The victims' religion
and Hicks' outspoken beliefs fueled broad online speculation that the
murders were a hate crime.
Those killed were Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha,
21; and her sister, Raleigh, N.C. resident Razan Abu-Salha, Chapel Hill
Police said in a statement.
Barakat was studying dentistry at the University of North Carolina,
while his wife and sister-in-law were attending North Carolina State
University, according to the Raleigh News-Observer.
Chapel Hill police found the victims dead at the scene after
responding to a report of gunshots at a condominium complex at 5:11 p.m.
Tuesday. Hicks is being held at Durham County Jail without bond. All
three were shot in the head, authorities said.
Barakat and Abu-Salha were married Dec. 27, according to the Raleigh
News-Observer. She had attended high school in Raleigh, and was on track
to graduate from college in December with a degree in biological
sciences, according to a North Carolina State University news release.
Her sister was studying architecture and environmental design at North
Carolina State.
Barakat, a Syrian-American, had majored in business administration
and management at North Carolina State before enrolling at UNC-Chapel
Hill two years ago to pursue his doctorate in dental surgery. He and his
new wife worked for a charity that provided dental care to people in
the United States and the Middle East. A Facebook post by Barakat dated
Jan. 29 detailed a Durham project that provided dental supplies and food
to homeless people this year.
He and 10 other dental students at the school were scheduled to go to
Turkey in the summer, where they were going to treat Syrian refugees as
part of a project organized by UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry and
the Syrian-American Medical Society. Hours after the murders, more than
$8,200 had been donated to the online campaign for "Project: Refugee
Smiles."
The Facebook page believed to belong to the suspect said he was a
paralegal studies student at Durham Technical Community College. The
page's author described himself as a fan of Thomas Paine’s "The Age of
Reason" and atheist author Richard Dawkins’ "The God Delusion."
In one online post, Hicks allegedly wrote:
"When it comes to insults, your religion started this, not me. If your
religion kept its big mouth shut, so would I."
UNC Chancellor Carol Folt is expected to issue a statement sometime Wednesday. Meanwhile, the school issued a statement.
"We are sensitive to the impact an
incident of this nature has on campus and in the community," the school
said. "We understand you want to know the facts as quickly as possible.
At the same time, we must respect the job our Chapel Hill police have as
they investigate this crime."
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