One soldier killed, one injured by Islam convert in Arkansas shooting

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tuesday, June 2nd 2009, 4:00 AM

A Muslim convert "with political and religious motives" shot two uniformed soldiers outside an Arkansas military recruiting center Monday, killing one and wounding the other, authorities said.

Police arrested Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, on a nearby interstate shortly after the bloodshed at the Army-Navy Career Center in a shopping center in west Little Rock. Three guns were found in his SUV, they said.

He will be charged with first-degree murder, plus 15 counts of committing a terroristic act, authorities said.

But they stressed there was no evidence of a broader plot, saying they believed "political and religious motives" were behind the attack.

The suspect appeared to have a "disagreement over the military operations" and opened fire "with the specific purpose of targeting military personnel," they said.

Lt. Terry Hastings told The Associated Press the shooter struck without warning.

"He saw them standing there and drove up and shot them," he said.

Muhammad, a Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe, is a convert to Islam, but when that happened was unclear.

His father, Melvin, declined to comment.

An FBI spokesman said agents are investigating to see if "there is any federal jurisdiction to prosecute."

curiously silent on this act of savagery are Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, The New Black Panthers, Nation of Islam......and the entire American muslim population...hmmmmmm....riff