Earlier this week, on a quiet Tuesday afternoon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, shots rang out in an apartment complex near the University of North Carolina. Three victims were identified in this shooting: Deah Barakat, 33, a second-year dental student at the University of North Carolina, his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, who was set to enroll at UNC in the fall, and Yusor’s 19 year old sister, Razan, who was a student at North Carolina State University. The following day, a 46 year old man named Craig Stephen Hicks was apprehended and charged with three counts of murder.

Even though this is a great tragedy within itself, there is an even deeper controversy regarding the cause of this shooting. The entire Muslim community is concerned that these act was a hate crime, and there is an active campaign against Muslims in this country. However, according to the shooter’s wife, this incident stemmed from a long standing dispute over a parking space in the apartment complex that they shared. Chapel Hill police assured the community that they would learn Hicks’ true motive, but their reports say that the parking spot claim seems to be validated.

The incident has sparked some serious racial tensions, with the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter popping up frequently throughout social media.

Many people have been voicing their opinions on the matter on social media.

The Barakat family claims that there had been many prior interactions between the two parties, including many comments that Hicks made about how their appearance made him uncomfortable. In an interview with Suzanna Barakat, Deah’s sister, she says that she had heard second hand about these comments through some of Deah’s friends, with whom he had shared his frustration. You can watch that full interview here:

In this interview, she makes it very clear that she wants the media to focus on the good that her family, and the Muslim community as a whole, has done to make the world a better place. Deah was set to embark on a trip to Turkey over the summer with ten other dentists to provide dental care to Syrian refugees, and he posted a YouTube clip asking for donations to help these refugees.

Since this tragedy, the donations have been pouring in for his cause. The goal for the project was $20,000. As of Thursday morning, the project had raised over $200,000. Along with the donations come many words of kindness.

“While the families are overwhelmed with grief, let us all overwhelm them with love from across the world by donating to Syrian Dental Relief,” said Jane Chesterman Jewell.

North Carolina State University also released an article In Memoriam of the victims of this tragedy, where Deah was an alumnus and Razan was a current student (https://news.ncsu.edu/2015/02/gone-too-soon/). There have been multiple candlelight vigils in their honor at the NC State campus, and many students have spoken out about how Deah and his wife Yunus have impacted their life.

My thoughts are prayers go out to the families of these three beautiful young individuals, who were taken from us too soon.