Muslims see Charlotte shooting as hate crime

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OnIslam & News Agencies

CHARLOTTE, N.Carolina – Leaders of the Charlotte Muslim community have asserted that the shooting of 18 bullets at the backyard of a Muslim family’s home is more likely to be an intentional hate crime rather than a random act of violence.

“We strongly feel this was not a random shooting. Whose house gets shot at 18 times and it’s random?” Jilbril Hough with the Charlotte Islamic Center told WCNC.com on Wednesday, March 18.

Hough was speaking about the attack carried out by an anonymous man who shot 18 bullets into a Muslim family’s home fence in the eastern Mecklenburg County.

The attack occurred at about 1 am when shots struck the family’s rear security fence and back of the house.

One bullet went through a second-floor window, striking the wife of the homeowner in the thigh as she was sleeping, the homeowner told news reporters and photographers.

Police, however, did not specify if the attack was a hate crime until they arrest someone in the case.

Hough was speaking during a meeting for local Muslim leaders at the Islamic center to draw more attention and need for answers in the shooting.

With the homeowner’s wife shot in the leg, the Muslim community has been rallying behind the family, urging police authorities to investigate the shooting as a hate crime.

“Nobody does random shootings 18 times. Nobody does target practice in the middle of the night, right now, daytime, would be good time to do target practice,” said Hough.

“We aren’t saying we know what it is but we know by using common sense what doesn’t add up,” he added.

On the other hand, Police said it’s a serious offense no matter the motive, but the amount of shots fired is suspicious.

“It’s a factor absolutely, and it’s a compelling one at that and that’s one of the things we’re considering, of course, during the course of the investigation,” said CMPD Deputy Chief Jeff Estes.

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.

Another Muslim, Ahmed Al-Jumaili, 36, was shot dead while taking photos of snow in Dallas.

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.