Washington:
A grand jury has indicted a North Carolina man on charges of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of three Muslim students, including a husband and wife, in the college town of Chapel Hill, police said Tuesday.
Craig Hicks, a 46-year-old espousing anti-religious views, was indicted for the murder last week of Chapel Hill residents Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, and his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, as well as her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh.
Police said the attack may have been triggered by a long-running dispute between neighbors over parking, although they were not ruling out the possibility of a hate crime.
A Facebook page believed to belong to Hicks showed dozens of anti-religious posts, including one calling himself an "anti-theist," saying he has a "conscientious objection to religion," and other memes denouncing Christianity, Mormonism and Islam.
Hicks, who turned himself in after the shooting outside the University of North Carolina, was being held without bond in the Durham County Jail.
Thousands gathered at a vigil last week on the UNC campus, mourning the victims whose killings rattled the tight-knit university town.
COMMENTS
Advertisement
US Woman Charged With Abusing And Starving 2 Of Her Adopted Children Before Murdering Them US Man Wins $400,000 Lottery Prize After Seeing Friend's Social Media Post Mysterious Object Found In North Carolina, Experts Say It Could Be SpaceX Dragon Debris The 'Fake' CrowdStrike Worker Who Crippled Windows Users Worldwide Over 300 Indian Students Return As Quota Row Sparks Violence In Bangladesh 500 Para Commandos To Hunt Pakistani Terrorists In Jammu After Attacks Study Abroad: Top 10 Management Universities In United States Of America Normal Bowel Movements Key To Reducing Chronic Disease Risk, Study Finds Centre To Play Key Role In Shaping 6G Networks Worldwide: Telecom Secretary Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.