On Friday, Oklahoma City’s KFOR reported that the FBI is investigating claims that Alton Nolen, a man who beheaded one of his former co-workers before stabbing another had tried to convert others to Islam. According to KFOR, “the FBI is now looking into Nolen’s background after his former co-workers said he tried to convert them to Islam after recently converting himself.” The investigation is ongoing, and according to KFOR “it is not known if the suspect’s beliefs played a role in the attack.”
The station said that police are saying Nolen randomly attacked two employees in the front office of Vaughan Foods, which had recently fired him. Nolen beheaded 54 year-old Colleen Hufford, and stabbed 43-year-old Traci Johnson. Nolen was reportedly attacking Johnson when former Vaughan Foods CEO and Oklahoma County reserve deputy Mark Vaughan shot him. Johnson is in stable condition, and the station reported that Nolen is expected to survive his injuries
Nolen’s criminal record was described as “extensive,” including “several drug charges” and assault and battery against a police officer. A leader in Oklahoma’s Islamic community that KFOR spoke to “said he did not know Alton or where he learned his Islamic beliefs,” and described the attack as “sickening.”
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