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| Queens shooting: Imam and his assistant shot dead at New York mosque | Queens shooting: Imam and his assistant shot dead at New York mosque |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An imam and his assistant have been killed after a gunman opened fire close to a New York mosque. Local residents claimed it was a targetted shooting and reports said police were investigating it as a possible hate crime. | |
| The New York Daily News said that gunshots rang out at around 2pm on Saturday near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque in Ozone Park, Queens, leaving both victims lying on the ground in their own blood just a block from the mosque. The identities of the two victims were not immediately made public. The imam, Maulana Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, were fatally injured, police said. | The New York Daily News said that gunshots rang out at around 2pm on Saturday near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque in Ozone Park, Queens, leaving both victims lying on the ground in their own blood just a block from the mosque. The identities of the two victims were not immediately made public. The imam, Maulana Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, were fatally injured, police said. |
| “People being shot in the head in broad daylight is unheard of,” said Millat Uddin, a 25-year resident of the neighborhood. | “People being shot in the head in broad daylight is unheard of,” said Millat Uddin, a 25-year resident of the neighborhood. |
| “Killing people brutally, like they’re an animal. We need justice ... It seems like somebody has taken the law into their own hand.” | “Killing people brutally, like they’re an animal. We need justice ... It seems like somebody has taken the law into their own hand.” |
| Tiffany Phillips, a spokeswoman for the New York Police Department, confirmed that two men in their 50’s were shot on a street in the Ozone Park section of Queens. | Tiffany Phillips, a spokeswoman for the New York Police Department, confirmed that two men in their 50’s were shot on a street in the Ozone Park section of Queens. |
| One of them was killed and the second was gravely wounded, but Ms Phillips declined to provide any more information about their identities. Police have yet to identify a suspect and the motive was still unknown, she told Reuters. Later, it was reported that the second man had also sucumbed to his injuries. | One of them was killed and the second was gravely wounded, but Ms Phillips declined to provide any more information about their identities. Police have yet to identify a suspect and the motive was still unknown, she told Reuters. Later, it was reported that the second man had also sucumbed to his injuries. |
| Donna Jag, 49, heard the shots and thought they were a car backfiring until she left her house to find a huge crowd of distraught people on the street. | Donna Jag, 49, heard the shots and thought they were a car backfiring until she left her house to find a huge crowd of distraught people on the street. |
| “It was chaos,” she told the News. “I was nervous. The neighborhood is quiet, but now, it’s kind of scary, right at my doorstep in broad daylight.” | “It was chaos,” she told the News. “I was nervous. The neighborhood is quiet, but now, it’s kind of scary, right at my doorstep in broad daylight.” |
| The neighborhood is a mix of residences and businesses, but people of different faiths have long gotten along peacefully, she said. | The neighborhood is a mix of residences and businesses, but people of different faiths have long gotten along peacefully, she said. |
| “We have Hindus and Muslims here, and we have no problems. This is really, really shocking,” she said. | “We have Hindus and Muslims here, and we have no problems. This is really, really shocking,” she said. |
| Police said they were investigating whether the incident, initially reported as a robbery, was a hate crime. On Saturday evening, the gunman was still at large. | Police said they were investigating whether the incident, initially reported as a robbery, was a hate crime. On Saturday evening, the gunman was still at large. |