Friends call imam slaying a hate crime; cops say no motive
In this Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, photo, people gather near a crime scene for a demonstration after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot in a brazen daylight attack as they left afternoon prayers Saturday. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot in the back of the head as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park section of Queens shortly before 2 p.m. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Sandals mark the crime scene, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, not far from the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York, where the leader of a New York City mosque has been fatally shot and an associate has been wounded in a brazen daylight attack. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Sandals lay on a street corner at the crime scene, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, not far from the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York, where the leader of a New York City mosque has been fatally shot and an associate has been wounded in a brazen daylight attack. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Sandals lay on a street corner at the crime scene, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, not far from the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York, where the leader of a New York City mosque has been fatally shot and an associate has been wounded in a brazen daylight attack. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
People gather for a demonstration Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York, near a crime scene after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot as they left afternoon prayers. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
People gather for a demonstration Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, near a crime scene after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot in a brazen daylight attack as they left afternoon prayers. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot in the back of the head as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park section of Queens shortly. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
People gather for a demonstration Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York, near a crime scene after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot as they left afternoon prayers. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
People gather for a demonstration Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York, near a crime scene after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot as they left afternoon prayers. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
People gather for a demonstration Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, near a crime scene after an imam and his friend were fatally shot while walking home from a mosque. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot in the back of the head as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park section of Queens. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
People gather for a demonstration Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, near a crime scene after an imam and his friend were fatally shot while walking home from a mosque. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot in the back of the head as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park section of Queens. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
People gather for a demonstration Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York, near a crime scene after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot as they left afternoon prayers. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
A young woman looks over the area from the steps of an elevated train station Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York, near a crime scene after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot as they left afternoon prayers. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
People gather for a demonstration Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York, near a crime scene after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot as they left afternoon prayers. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
New York police department crime scene investigators photograph evidence Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York, after the leader of a New York City mosque and an associate were fatally shot as they left afternoon prayers. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
New York City police secure the scene where two men were shot as they left prayers at a mosque in the Queens borough of New York, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. Police identified the victims as Imam Maulama Akonjee, the 55-year-old leader of the mosque, who died at the hospital, and a 64-year-old man. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)
A police vehicle is parked across the street from the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016, in the Ozone Park section of the Queens borough of New York. The leader of the mosque, Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and an associate, Tharam Uddin, 64, were fatally shot as they left afternoon prayers Saturday. (AP Photo/Mike Balsamo)
In this Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, photo, people gather inside the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park section of Queens, not far from the crime scene where the leader of the mosque and an associate were fatally shot in a brazen daylight attack as they left afternoon prayers Saturday. Police said 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his 64-year-old associate, Tharam Uddin, were shot in the back of the head as they left the mosque shortly before 2 p.m. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
NEW YORK — The daylight slaying of a mosque leader and his associate set off fear and anguish Sunday among Bangladeshi Muslims in a New York City neighborhood, with some saying the killings appear to be an anti-Muslim hate crime. But police said there is no evidence so far to support that.
Police hunted for the gunman who killed Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in Queens as they left afternoon prayers Saturday in their traditional religious attire. Both men were shot in the head.
“This was a hate crime. One hundred percent, there’s no doubt about it,” said Monir Chowdhury, who worshipped daily with the two men.
He said he had moved to the community because of its large Bangladeshi immigrant population, but in recent months has been harassed by people shouting anti-Muslim epithets.
In one incident, a man called him “Osama” as he walked to the mosque with his 3-year-old son. With the killer still on the loose, Chowdhury decided it would be best to drive to prayer services.
“A lot of neighbors said, ‘Hey, don’t take your kid with you,’” he said. “People, they just hate us.”
Police released a sketch early Sunday of a dark-haired, bearded man wearing glasses. Police said witnesses described the shooter as a man with a medium complexion. A person who lives near the shooting scene showed The Associated Press and other media organizations a video that showed a man walking up behind the imam and his associate, shooting the men in the head and then walking off. Police said they were reviewing the video.
Investigators said they have not established a motive in the attack. On Saturday, Deputy Inspector Henry Sautner said there was “nothing in the preliminary investigation to indicate that they were targeted because of their faith.”