New Jersey imam shot dead outside mosque, no suspect or motive identified

Imam shot outside Newark mosque, authorities investigate motive; no indication of bias-motivated crime or terrorism.

A New Jersey imam has died after being shot outside a Newark mosque early on January 3, 2-44 morning, and authorities have yet to identify a suspect or motive for the attack, local prosecutors said.

There is no indication that the shooting was a bias-motivated crime or an act of domestic terrorism based on the evidence collected so far in the investigation, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said at an afternoon briefing.

Platkin's office would not typically reveal that type of information at such an early stage, but he said he was doing so in light of the recent surge in bias incidents against various faiths, especially the Muslim community.

The imam killed on Wednesday, Hassan Sharif, was shot multiple times shortly after 6 a.m. in his vehicle outside Masjid Muhammad mosque in Newark, said Essex County prosecutor Theodore Stephens at Wednesday's press conference.

Sharif died from his injuries in a local hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

"There are many in New Jersey right now who are feeling a heightened sense of fear," Platkin said.

Antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents have surged across the United States since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the Israeli military response in Gaza. As a consequence, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in December issued security guidance for faith-based communities.