2015 Chapel Hill shooting

Summerwalk Circle, the street where the shooting happened

The 2015 Chapel Hill shooting was an incident that happened on February 10, 2015 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Three Muslim college students were shot dead. Their neighbor Craig Stephen Hicks was arrested for it. Families of the victims called it a hate crime.[1]

History

Police do not know why Hicks might have done it.[1] Police in Chapel Hill say Hicks had argued with the victims over parking spaces before.[2] Neighbors said Hicks was obsessed over people parking in his space.[3] His Facebook page says he supports “Atheists for Equality” and blamed “radical Christians and radical Muslims" for causing problems in the world.[3]

The FBI was called in to help the local police.[4] They also started an investigation to see if any federal laws have been broken.[4] Federal officials did not find any evidence it was a hate crime.[5] On 12 June 2019, Hicks pleaded guilty to the shooting. He was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. He was not convicted of any hate crime. [6]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jonathan M. Katz; Richard Pérez-Peña (11 February 2015). "In Chapel Hill Shooting of 3 Muslims, a Question of Motive". New York Times. Retrieved 13 February 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ Sarah Kaplan (12 February 2015). "Suspect in Chapel Hill killings described as troublemaker, obsessed with parking". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Johnny Giles (12 February 2015). "Neighbor says NC triple murder suspect carried gun, obsessed with parking spaces". Fox News Network. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jane Stancill (12 February 2015). "FBI launches new investigation into Chapel Hill killings; thousands mourn in Raleigh". &newsobserver. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Ben Brumfield (13 February 2015). "Chapel Hill shooting: When is a crime a 'hate crime'?". CNN. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "Chapel Hill killer jailed for life for 2015 murder of Muslim students". BBC News. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.