Arts & Entertainment Editor
Three college students
were murdered Tuesday evening on Summerwalk Circle in the Finley Forest
Condominiums, home to many University of North at Carolina Chapel Hill graduate
students. The
students were identified as Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Barakat, and
Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.
Craig Stephen Hicks
surrendered himself to deputies in Pittsboro after driving to Chatham County
immediately after the shooting. Hicks has been charged with three counts of
first-degree murder.
Family members said the
Barakats had an ongoing dispute about parking with Hicks, who was once their
next door neighbor. A friend of Y. Barakat claims Hicks had once came to the
door with a rifle.
Hick’s social media
accounts made many remarks to him being an “anti-theist” and posts on
condemning religion. One of Hick’s post asks, "why radical Christians and
radical Muslims are so opposed to each other’s influence when they agree about
so many ideological issues." The statements are leading the public to
believe the student’s religion may have been a motive in the shooting. The
Council on American Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest civil advocacy
group for Muslims, called on law enforcement to address a “possible bias
motive.”
Hick’s wife, Karen, said
in a news conference, “This incident had nothing to do with religion or the
victims’ faith, but it was related to a longstanding parking dispute that my
husband had with the neighbors.” According to K. Hicks, her husband believes
everyone is equal and “was a champion of the second amendment.”
D. Barakat, 23, was
enrolled at the UNC School of Dentistry. Y. Barakat, his wife, was completing
her biology major at North Carolina State University. The 21 year old had
planned to study dentistry at UNC in the fall. The two were recently married in
December. Abu-Salha, 19, was Y. Barakat’s sister, and had been visiting her
when the shooting took place. She studied architecture and environmental
science at N.C. State. Both women graduated from Athens High School.
Wednesday evening,
thousands of people gathered in “The Pit” at the center of UNC’s campus to
attend a service to remember the lives of the man and young women. N.C. State
will be holding a candlelight vigil of their own tonight at 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in
“The Brickyard.”
