The recent brutal Oklahoma beheading of a woman occurred Thursday at a food distribution center in the area. The FBI, together with the Moore Police Department, are now probing the suspect's recent conversion to Islam if it had anything to do with the Moore, Oklahoma beheading.
Terrorism may have been involved as co-workers pointed out to authorities that the suspect tried to convert them to Islam after his own recent conversion, reports Fox News.
The alleged suspect in the Oklahoma beheading is 30-year-old Alton Nolen. According to Sgt. Jeremy Lewis of the Moore Police Department, Nolen performed the Oklahoma beheading on Thursday moments after he was fired from Vaughan Foods in Moore.
According to NBC News, police said Nolen drove to another part of the facility and walked into a front office before attacking 54-year-old Colleen Hufford with a knife and performing the Oklahoma beheading on her.
Lewis told KFOR Nolen drove to the front of the business and also struck a vehicle before making the attacks.
According to multiple reports, Nolen stabbed Hufford several times before severing her head.
Lewis confirmed the type of knife used in the Oklahoma beheading as a "standard" knife - the same kind used at the plant.
Lewis added that Nolen used the same knife to attack 43-year-old Traci Johnson at the plant.
NBC News reports that Johnson suffered numerous wounds. On Friday, she remained in stable condition, said police.
Lewis said at a news conference, "He obviously was trying to kill her, too," before adding that Nolen had no relationship with either victim. The two women were simply in his way when he made the Oklahoma beheading and stabbing spree.
According to KFOR, Mark Vaughan, the company's president and chief operating officer and a reserve deputy with the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office, shot Nolen as while he was stabbing Johnson.
Lewis said of Vaughan's actions, "He's a hero in this situation. It could have gotten a lot worse."
Meanwhile, Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel said there was "every reason to believe" others would have suffered the same fate as the victim of the Oklahoma beheading if not for Vaughan intervention.
The sheriff said in a statement, "I am extremely proud of the actions of Deputy Vaughan and I am convinced those actions saved the lives of several other employees."
Nolen was also taken to the hospital after his Oklahoma beheading and stabbing attack. According to NBC News, he is expected to survive and that once coherent, police said he will be interviewed and charged.
Fox News reports that apparently, the Oklahoma beheading and stabbing attacks amongst the employees had been random.
Hufford's cause of death had been confirmed by the Medical Examiner on Friday.
Amy Elliott with the Medical Examiner's Office said, "Ms. Hufford's cause of death is decapitation due to multiple sharp force trauma to neck. Manner of death is homicide."
According to KFOR, the FBI is now looking into Nolen's background. Lewis added that the FBI is working with the Moore Police Department, especially with the religious angle in the case of the Oklahoma beheading.
In the meantime, NBC News reports that Nolen's firing had not been made public. Law enforcement officials added that his conversion to the religion occurred while he was still in prison. That stint reportedly ended in March 2013, as shown in records.
The motive for the Oklahoma beheading and stabbing attacks remains unclear. According to law enforcement officials, they are looking into his online activities right now. They are also trying to see if his Facebook page contained materials with terrorist and fundamentalist content.
In lieu of the Oklahoma beheading and stabbing attacks, the police department issued a statement and said, "After conducting interviews with Nolen's co-workers, information was obtained that he recently started trying to convert several employees to the Muslim religion."
The statement continued, "Due to the manner of death and the initial statements of co-workers and other initial information, the Moore Police Department requested the assistance of the FBI in conducting a background investigation on Nolan."
Nolan's home and car has been searched as well, but reports say their findings have not revealed any connection to radical fundamentalism, nor contact with terrorist groups such as ISIS.
According to state corrections records, Nolen had been convicted in January 2011 of multiple felony drug offenses, assault and battery on a police officer and escape from detention. On March 2013, Nolen was released from prison.
Executive Director Adam Soltani of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Oklahoma said Nolen's Oklahoma beheading and stabbing attacks are condemned by the Muslim community. Soltani added that his faith should not be connected to the crime.
Soltani said, "It's really unfortunate that there's a lot of attention on Muslims these days for actions of people who are either part of extremist groups or who have extreme ideas. However, Islam is clear on what it stands for. Islam stands for peace, Islam stands for justice, Islam stands for love for humanity, compassion and mercy."
He added, "What this gentleman did in Moore, which is inhumane and barbaric, is definitely not a representation of what our faith teaches and we hope and pray that justice will be brought against the perpetrator soon, so that the victims and their families can find some sort of solace in that justice."
Spokesman Saad Mohammad for the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, told NewsOK.com that leaders of the society's mosque are now taking extra precautionary measures to protect Muslims from potential revenge attacks.
Mohammad added that anti-Muslim sentiments could be heightened now that more beheadings and violence overseas are performed by the Islamic State militants.
Mohammad said, "They have this ISIS thing on their minds and now this guy has brought it to America."
Meanwhile, Nolen's charges for the Oklahoma beheading and stabbing which caused one death and severe injuries to another victim is still unknown. Lewis said police are still waiting for him to become conscious before they could arrest him.
The Oklahoma beheading and stabbing spree has left the company where Nolan was fired from "shocked and deeply saddened", according to the company spokeswoman.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
