The man accused of killing three Muslim students in North Carolina this week had threatened his neighbors before, according to a new report.
Craig Stephen Hicks was a “self-appointed watchman” of his Chapel Hill apartment complex, the New York Times reports. Hicks knocked on the door of two of the future victims—Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Deah Shaddy Barakat— last fall to complain about the the amount of noise they made while playing the board game risk Risk, neighbors recalled, and was holding a rife at the time—though he wasn’t pointing it at anyone.
The shooting ignited outrage and suspicion that it was motivated by anti-Muslim bias, though authorities have said preliminary investigation indicates it may have been sparked by an ongoing parking dispute. Hicks has been charged with three counts of first degree murder.
[NYT]
Witness Scenes from the Vigil for Chapel Hill's Shooting Victims
![A woman cries as a video is played during a vigil for the three young Muslims who were killed in Chapel Hill UNC Chapel Hill Shooting Muslim Students Vigil](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/unc-chapel-hill-shooting-muslim-students-vigil-1.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Namee Barakat embraces his wife Layla Barakat, parents of shooting victim Deah Shaddy Barakat, during a vigil in Chapel Hill UNC Chapel Hill Shooting Muslim Students Vigil](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/unc-chapel-hill-shooting-muslim-students-vigil-2.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Three Killed North Carolina UNC Chapel Hill Shooting Muslim Students Vigil](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/unc-chapel-hill-shooting-muslim-students-vigil-3.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![APTOPIX Three Killed North Carolina UNC Chapel Hill Shooting Muslim Students Vigil](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/unc-chapel-hill-shooting-muslim-students-vigil-4.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Three Killed North Carolina UNC Chapel Hill Shooting Muslim Students Vigil](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/unc-chapel-hill-shooting-muslim-students-vigil-5.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![TOPSHOTS-US-CRIME-SHOOTING UNC Chapel Hill Shooting Muslim Students Vigil](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/unc-chapel-hill-shooting-muslim-students-vigil-6.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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