The horrendous killings of three young Muslim-American university students near the University of North Carolina by an atheist man Tuesday evening has prompted authorities there to look at the incident as a possible hate crime. Initial police statements citing a dispute over a parking space as a potential motive were subsequently expanded to include a possible bias motive as well. Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, of Chapel Hill, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, punishable by life in prison or death under North Carolina law. Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue stated, “We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case.”
Read more in the Huffington Post.