Three young Muslim men were shot dead in an execution-style slaying at an abandoned house in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The abandoned house was frequented by teens and had become a party spot. Authorities say they found the bodies of Fort Wayne residents Mohamed Taha Omar, 23, Adam K Mekki, 20, and Muhannad A Tairab, 17, inside a local home on Wednesday.
Reports revealed that the men were each shot multiple times.
Further, NBC affiliate 21Alive reports that young African men would frequent the house due to an “absentee ownership situation”, however, police do not believe the hangout spot is connected to gangs or crime.
While hate crime remains a possibility, due to a growing wave of anti-Muslim sentiment, police currently do not believe the three deaths were related to the men’s nationality or religion.
Last year in another case of shooting, a man named Craig Stephen Hicks was arrested for the murder murder of three Muslim students at the University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill campus.
The victims were identified as Chapel Hill residents Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu Salha, 21, and her sister Razan Abu Salha, 19, of Raleigh.
