Moore police have asked the FBI to help investigate the background of a man accused of beheading a coworker at a plant from which he was being fired.
Police say suspect Alton Nolen had been trying to convert co-workers to Islam, and have asked the FBI to join in investigating him. However, the department tells MSNBC that investigators do not believe the act was related to the kind ISIS has been conducting in the Middle East.
Moore police spokesman Jeremy Lewis said the attacks “appear random.”
“He wasn’t targeting anyone, wasn’t going specifically after them. It appears they were just in his way as he came in,” Lewis said in a press conference.
Meanwhile, in a release issued today, Oklahoma Islamic leaders are asking their fellow Oklahoma Muslims to assist law enforcement in the investigation. The Islamic Council of Oklahoma says "Muslims are supporting law enforcement efforts to perform their due diligence and seek justice in this case."
Sheryl Siddiqui, spokesperson for the council, stated in the release that Nolen “was not known to any of the leadership in Oklahoma mosques. We do not have any confirmation of his conversion either in prison or out in the community."
