Local police in Oklahoma have requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation to step in and conduct a background probe on a 30-year-old Islamic man who beheaded his former co-worker and stabbed another at a food processing plant.
Alton Alexander Nolen, a convicted felon discharged from prison but is still on probation, was fired from Vaughan Foods in Moore, Okla. on Sept. 25. Just shortly after leaving the human resources building where he received the pink slip, Nolen drove over to the main warehouse and crashed his car into another vehicle before entering the building and attacking the first person he saw. Colleen Hufford, a 54-year-old worker who last year lost her home to a tornado, was stabbed by Nolen.
Sgt. Jeremy Lewis, a spokesman for the local police department, said in a news conference that Nolen stabbed the victim so hard in the neck that he eventually severed her head. Next, he turned to 43-year-old Traci Johnson and began assaulting her with the same knife until Mark Vaughan, chief operating officer at Vaughan Foods and reserve deputy sheriff, shot Nolen three times and wounded him.
The FBI is currently on the scene to investigate if Nolen's religious background played a role in the incident. Shortly after the United States initiated its own attacks on the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria on Sept. 22, the bureau has alerted local police units to be on the lookout for violent individuals who might respond with attacks of their own.
Lewis said, according to Nolen's co-workers, the suspect had previously tried to convert them to Islam after recently converting to the religion himself. Citing prison records, local news media said Nolen had several tattoos with religious references, including the words "as-salaamu alaikum" on his abdomen, an Arabic phrase loosely translated as "peace be with you," and the words "Jesus Christ" on his chest. On his left arm, Nolen had a tattoo that said "Judah" and an image of hands clasped together as though in prayer on his right.
A look at his Facebook page shows Nolen calling himself Jah'Keem Yisrael and has a cover photo of heavily armed Islamic fighters. Other posts on his page include photos of Osama Bin Laden and a graphic image of an apparent beheading that took place on March 7, with the claim that the beheading was a "precedent bestowed by their Prophet."
"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 Nolen," says the Moore police in a statement.
FBI special agent James E. Finch of the FBI Oklahoma City office says the agency is in the process of gathering information and is "not in a position to comment further." The Moore police, on the other hand, say no evidence has been found that Nolen's religious affiliations figured in the brutality.
"This suspect was angry about some sort of incident that happened at the business," says Lewis. "These women really had nothing to do with that. He was just acting out against them. They are the first people he came in contact with."
"So far, there is no nexus to terrorism we are aware of," he adds.
Nolen's prison records show he was charged with three felonies, two of which were for possession of marijuana and cocaine. The most recent was for assaulting a highway patrol officer and fleeing from arrest. As part of his sentence, Nolen was ordered to undergo an anger management course along with five years of imprisonment. Jerry Massie, a spokesman for the Moore Corrections Department, says Nolen showed no misconduct and was released early in March 2013.
It was unclear why Nolen was terminated from the production line. He, along with Johnson, are currently confined and in stable condition at the local hospital.
"He is alive and doing well," writes Paige Nolen, said to be Alton's sister, on Facebook. "Thanks to all praying warriors out there friends and family. To god be the glory! My bro is alive and just know that the devil is a lie. Please continue prayers."
