Police: Man kills three in Fresno, yells ‘ Allahu Akbar’
A man opened fire and fatally shot three people in downtown Fresno on Tuesday, shouting “Allahu Akbar” or “God is great” in Arabic as police took him down to the ground, authorities confirmed.
The Fresno police chief also told reporters that the suspect’s Facebook page included posts that expressed hate for white people.
Police arrested Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, a man they believe was homeless. Muhammad is African-American. His victims were all white, police said. The shootings appeared to be random, Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.
Muhammad also was wanted in connection with the fatal shooting Thursday night of a security guard at a Motel 6 who was responding to a disturbance, Lt. Mark Hudson, Fresno police spokesman, confirmed to USA TODAY.
Dyer said Muhammad has past arrests on weapons, drugs and false imprisonment charges and making terrorist threats. He had been associated with gangs but was not a validated member, police said.
Dyer said Muhammad had been living on the streets and most people had “disassociated” themselves from him.
Dyer told reporters that the victims were shot minutes apart outside a Catholic Charities building.
The shootings happened outside a Catholic Charities building, but spokeswoman Teresa Dominguez told the Associated Press that the charity does not believe the suspect was tied to the nonprofit organization.
Sayed Ali Ghazvini, imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, said Muhammad was not a member of his congregation and he did not recognize him.
The imam said he is consulting with other faith leaders.
“We’re kind of shocked and surprised for what happened,” the Associated Press quoted Ghazvini as saying. “We are very sorry for this to happen. We offer condolences for the victims. We pray for the victims and their families.”
Muhammad first fired shots late Tuesday morning into a Pacific Gas & Electric vehicle, killing the passenger, police said.
He shot at a second person on the street, but missed, according to YourCentralValley.com. He shot and killed another person that he encountered on the street and shot and killed another in the Catholic Charities parking lot, according to the Central Valley news organization.
Muhammad faces four counts of murder and two of attempted murder, according to Dyer.