Friends of Nabra Hassanen, the 17-year-old who was killed after disappearing outside a Virginia mosque, told BuzzFeed News a road rage incident that led to her death.
Police in Fairfax, Virginia, are confident they have found Hassanen's body after she was reported missing early Sunday while returning to the mosque with a group of friends. Shortly after finding the remains Sunday afternoon, officers arrested 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres and charged him with murder in connection to the case.
Fairfax County Police on Monday said that her death "appears to be the result of a road rage incident involving the suspect, who was driving and who is now charged with murder, and a group of teenagers who was walking and riding bikes in and along a roadway."
"Our investigation at this point does not indicate the victim was targeted because of her race or religion," the statement said.
Asma Ibrahim, who went to South Lakes High School with Hassanen, and who grew up in the same neighborhood, told BuzzFeed News that she had spoken to some of the teens who were in the group from which Hassanen went missing.
According to Ibrahim, a large group of teens — including around 10 boys, and three to four girls including Hassanen — were walking back towards the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center in Sterling, Virginia, after grabbing breakfast at McDonalds before beginning their fast at sunrise for Ramadan.
Ibrahim said she had heard from witnesses that two of the boys in the group, who were on bikes, initiated the altercation with the suspect who was in his car.
"One boy insulted his car, as it was an old, broken-down car," Ibrahim said. "Another boy was cutting off the man by driving in front of his car. This aggravated the man," she said.
"They were just basically messing with the guy in the car," Ibrahim said. She said the suspect was drunk — another witness also described the suspect as drunk — and "got mad."
"He attempted to bring the car on the sidewalk and driver over them," Ibrahim said. He then got out of the car with a metal bat and chased the group of teens, she said.
"One boy [in the group] described it as creepy," Ibrahim said.
"Everyone was running for their lives as the man chased them and they didn't realize that Nabra wasn't there with them," Ibrahim said.
She said one girl in the group saw Hassenen fall down, but "she kept running and didn't say anything."
Ibrahim said the girl who saw Hassanen fall down, did not know if she tripped or if the suspect hit her with the bat.
Officer Tawny Wright, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Police Department confirmed some of the details of Ibrahim's account.
"Something upset the man and he got out of his car and went after them" during the altercation, Wright said.
"The missing teen was the closest one to him. He assaulted her," Wright said, adding that the group tended to separate after the suspect chased them.
She did not say who initiated the altercation, but said that police were looking into what the sparked the dispute between the suspect and the teens.
Wright did not confirm if Torres was drunk, but said that it was part of their investigation and police were looking to see if "it was a contributing factor."
The All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) mosque in Sterling, Virginia.
Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images
Yufra Abdelmuid, a family friend of Hassanen who has been helping the family plan the funeral, also told BuzzFeed News that Torres appeared to be drunk. However, her account of how the altercation began, appeared to differ from Ibrahim's version of the events.
Abdelmuid said she knows the other teens in the group and and was with them when they gave statements to police detailing how Nabra got separated during the attack.
Relaying what the teens witnessed, Abdelmuid said Torres was at the McDonald's eating and appeared to be "obviously drunk."
"He was at the McDonald's eating at the same time and he followed them in his car," Abdelmuid said. "He threw a beer bottle at them and they started running to the bowling parking lot nearby and he got out of his car with a bat and hit [Nabra] over the head."
The girls were all wearing traditional Muslim clothing called abayas and "definitely stood out," she added.
Ibrahim said that she and others were at the mosque waiting for news of Hassanen after she was reported missing.
"We just kept waiting and waiting for good news, "Ibrahim said. "We heard a scream from [Nabra's] mom. That's when everyone rushed in to the mosque and the news [of Nabra's death] was delivered. And everyone just started collectively crying," she said.
Ibrahim described Hassanen as a "very funny" girl who was "dedicated to her school work."
"She had the best jokes. She was also a very good dancer and had good fashion taste," Ibrahim said. "We would go to the playground in our neighborhood and talk and talk for hours," she said.
Ibrahim, who is the secretary of the Muslim Students Association at South Lakes High School, said that media reports and "people on Twitter" think it was a hate crime "just because she was wearing a hijab."
She said that many people at the mosque, and the teens who were there during the incident, don't believe it was a hate crime "because of the altercation that happened right before."
Hassanen’s mother, Sawsan Gazzar, told thw Washington Post, "I think it had to do with the way she was dressed and the fact that she’s Muslim."
"Why would you kill a kid? What did my daughter do to deserve this?" she asked.
However, Ibrahim said that calling it a hate crime was "just like the easiest way to understand what seems like a senseless, random murder."
"From what I've heard, I think she was just a victim to the boys' nonsense. Unfortunately, Nabra had to take the consequences of that," she said.
LINK: A Muslim Teen Was Kidnapped And Murdered Outside A Virginia Mosque
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