Self-Styled Avenger Arrested In NYC

A man who allegedly wanted to harm people of Middle Eastern descent because of his anger over the World Trade Center attack has been arrested for a string of New York City workplace shootings that left four people dead.

Larme Price, 30, of Brooklyn, was arrested Saturday after admitting to the shootings in a telephone conversation with investigators, NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Sunday.

Police were charging Price with four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in the attacks, all of which came in Brooklyn and Queens.

"This is a disturbing case," Kelly said. "One man's twisted view has led to the murder of four people. This department will not tolerate anger against immigrants or crimes of bias."

Price, who is unemployed, contacted police and said he had information about the killings, Kelly said. When they called him to come in for an interview, he admitted to the killings over the phone and said he had been motivated by the Sept. 11 attacks, Kelly said.

The shootings, which came at convenience stores, supermarkets and other workplaces, began Feb. 8. In the most recent slaying, convenience store workers Mohammed Ali Nassir, 54, and Yakoob Aldailam, 20, were shot at close range on March 20. Nassir died; Aldailam remains hospitalized.

Though several of those targeted were from the Middle East, at least two were not one a man from Guyana and another from Russia, both of whom died.