An imam and his assistant were shot while walking home from a Queens mosque after Saturday afternoon prayers, according to the New York Daily News.
One of the victims was killed and the other died hours later at the hospital, according to the New York Daily News.
Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, were killed by a lone gunman who witnesses say targeted the two and is still at large.
"There's nothing in the preliminary investigation to indicate that they were targeted because of their faith," Deputy Inspector Henry Sautner of the New York Police Department told The Associated Press.
Surveillence video shows the shooter approached the men from behind. One victim was shot in the head and the other in the chest outside Al-furqan Jame Masjid Mosque in Ozone Park around 1:50 p.m., according to the Daily News.
It was not clear if the gunman said anything before he started shooting, according to the Daily News.
Dozens of angry Muslim men, who believe the shooting was a hate crime, were gathered near the scene, according to the Daily News.
"People being shot in the head in broad daylight is unheard of," Millat Uddin, a neighborhood resident, told the Daily News. "Killing people brutally, like they're an animal."
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