A New Jersey imam was shot dead in a ‘senseless’ attack. The killer is a mystery
Imam Hassan Sharif was shot and killed on Wednesday morning. The suspect and the motive for the killing remain unclear, Amelia Neath reports
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The Muslim community is reeling after an imam was shot and killed outside his mosque in Newark, New Jersey.
Investigators say that they have not found any indication that the Wednesday attack against Imam Hassan Sharif was motivated by a bias against Muslims.
But the attorney general for New Jersey, Matthew Platkin, recognised that the Muslim community will be feeling “a heightened sense of fear or anxiety”.
Mr Platkin said that the imam was the latest victim of the “senseless gun violence epidemic that plagues our state and our country”.
The shooter, who has yet to be identified, still remains on the loose as people mourn a man who was at the very heart of their community.
Here’s everything we know about the killing:
The shooting
Imam Hassan Sharif was fatally shot on Wednesday morning outside a mosque in Newark, authorities confirmed in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Sharif was shot more than once at around 6am near the corner of Camden Street and South Orange Avenue, acting Essex County prosecutor Theodore Stephens said.
The imam was taken to University Hospital situated right next to the mosque and died of his injuries at around 2.21pm on Wednesday.
Wahy-ud Deen Shareef, the convener of the Council of Imams in New Jersey, said that Mr Sharif was attending predawn prayers at the mosque when he was shot, according to the New York Times.
The shooter has not yet been identified or found by authorities.
A $25,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information about the shooting, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura announced.
No biased motivations indicated
Investigators are currently unsure as to what motivated the shooter to fire at Mr Sharif. However, they did say that they have not found any evidence of bias that could have motivated the attack.
“This investigation is ongoing, but at this time, we do not have any information suggesting the crime was motivated by bias,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.
“Every possible angle will, of course, be explored, and every lead will be fully investigated to bring the perpetrator or perpetrators to justice,” he added
Despite this, Mr Platkin and other officials at the press conference did acknowledge the increased fear amongst the Muslim population in the state because of this killing.
What the attorney general was sure of, however, was that Mr Sharif was the “latest casualty in the senseless gun violence epidemic that plagues our state and our country”.
“Tragedies like what we’ve experienced today, regardless of their motivation, should not happen,” he said.
Who was Imam Hassan Sharif?
Mr Sharif was described by officials and those who knew him as a community leader and activist, well known for being the resident imam of the Masjid Muhammad-Newark mosque for approximately five years.
The Newark public safety director, Fritz Fragé said at the conference that the imam was a member of the ‘safe surrender’ program where fugitives could go and turn themselves in at the mosque to avoid violence or interactions with the police.
He was also described by Mr Fragé as “a community activist who protested against gun violence.
“He supported the city in all of his efforts in helping to keep our cities safe.”
Aside from Mr Sharif’s role as an imam, he also worked for the Transport Security Administration (TSA) as a security officer at Newark Liberty International Airport since 2006.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of his passing and send our condolences to his family, friends and co-workers,” a TSA spokesperson said in a statement.
This was not the first time that Mr Sharif had been subject to gun violence.
The imam had reportedly been held at gunpoint several months prior to this incident, Mr Shareef told the Bergen Record.
Yet, he managed to wrestle the pistol out of the attacker’s hand, and the suspect fled the scene and was never caught.
When asked about this alleged incident at the conference, prosecutor Stephens said it was “part of an active investigation”.
Growing concerns in the community
While the investigation has so far not found evidence that the shooting was a biased crime, the community leaders did acknowledge that Mr Sharif’s death is alarming to the Muslim community.
There are an estimated 320,000 Muslims in New Jersey, according to Mr Platkin, who recognised that there will be many right now who “are feeling a heightened sense of fear or anxiety”.
The Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, also wrote in a statement reacting to the killing, that he wanted to “assure the Muslim community and people of all faiths that we will do everything in our power to keep all residents safe, especially in or near our houses of worship”.
Muslim community leaders also shared their concerns about the death of the imam.
CAIR-NJ, the New Jersey branch of the Council for American Islamic Relations, the country’s largest Muslim civil rights organisation, called upon the public to come forward with any information regarding the death of Mr Sharif.
A spokesperson for CAIR-NJ, Dina Sayedahmed, described the imam as “a beacon of leadership and excellence”.
“As always, and irrespective of this specific incident, we advise all mosques to keep their doors open but remain cautious, especially given the recent spike in anti-Muslim bigotry,” CAIR said.
The organisation reports that incidents of anti-Muslin bigotry have increased by more than 170 per cent since the Hamas attack on 7 October that triggered Israel’s ongoing military action in Gaza.
CAIR said it has received 2,171 anti-Muslim and anti-Palestine hate complaints over the last two months to their national headquarters – a 172 per cent increase from the same period in 2022.
Over 50 years ago, in 1973, another imam, James Shabazz, of the same mosque, then known as Temple No. 25, was shot and killed in his driveway, the New York Times said.
Reactions
Hundreds of mourners gathered for a vigil outside the mosque in remembrance of Mr Sharif, the New York Times reported.
Ras Baraka, Newark’s mayor, said the authorities would “bring the perpetrator to justice, no matter how long it takes”.
“Imam Hassan Sharif stood with the people of this city, and we will stand with him and his family… I am disgusted that a gun has made its way through our community to kill one of us,” Mr Baraka said on X.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker tweeted that he was “heartbroken” over the news of the death.
Those who knew Mr Sharif spoke to local news about the pain they are feeling over the imam’s death but are remembering him as a great community member.
Saydah Maiga, a member of the mosque, told NBC News how the imam helped her conversion to Islam in June.
"He was there for me when I needed prayer when I first became a Muslim," she said.
"He definitely made sure he reached out to me to help me learn my prayers so that I could become the best Muslim”.
Aneesah Abdullah, who knew Sharif, told CBS that the imam was “just a good person overall. I can’t think of anything wrong he’s done to anyone, and that comes from my heart”.