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Kori Ali
Muhammad, 39, fatally shot the three white men in downtown
Fresno on Tuesday after realizing he was wanted for the killing
of a white security guard last week, Fresno Police Chief Jerry
Dyer said.
"Kori Muhammad is not a terrorist, but he is a racist, and he is
filled with hate, and he set out this week to kill as many
people as he could," Dyer told a news conference on Wednesday.
Muhammad, who is being held without bail, has not been formally
charged with the deaths of Zackary Randalls, Mark Gassett and
David Jackson on Tuesday or Carl Williams last week. It was
unclear whether he had obtained an attorney.
The FBI is examining Tuesday's killings as a possible hate crime
or act of terrorism but has not yet made an official
determination.
Dyer said Muhammad, who went by the nickname Black Jesus, began
the series of shootings in the central California city last
Thursday when he had a confrontation with a security guard at a
motel.
He had been asked to leave the motel and opened fire because he
felt disrespected, the police chief said.
On Tuesday morning, he visited a Starbucks and logged onto the
Web, where he learned police were seeking him for last week's
shooting, Dyer said.
"What he told our detectives last night was that once he saw he
was wanted for murder, he was not going to go down for shooting
a security guard for disrespecting him, but that he was going to
kill as many white males as possible," Dyer said on Wednesday.
Police allege Muhammad opened fire 17 times as he walked and ran
along several blocks in Fresno, killing the three men in less
than four minutes.
He surrendered while shouting: "Allahu Akhbar," which means "God
is great" in Arabic, police said, adding they had not yet
recovered the weapon Muhammad discarded.
In the past, Muhammad posted messages on social media that
referred to white people as "devils."
Prosecutors plan to review the case against Muhammad on Thursday
and he could be arraigned in court on Friday.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter
Cooney)
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