The murder of a family of three young muslims in their North Carolina home may have been a racially motivated attack, according to local police.

Dental student Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were shot dead on Tuesday evening following an alleged dispute with a neighbour about parking.

• How the Paris shootings have divided Europe
• Professor investigated for racial slurs

Police arrested and charged Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, with three counts of first-degree murder and indicated an “ongoing dispute” between Hicks and his victims may have “motivated” the killings.

The father of Yusor Mohammad and Razan Mohammad Abu Salha told the Chapel Hill News and Observer his daughters lived in fear of their neighbour, and called their murders a “hate crime”.

“This man had picked on my daughter and her husband a couple of times before, and he talked with them with his gun in his belt,” Mohammad Abu-Salha said.

“They were uncomfortable with him, but they did not know he would go this far.”

Mr Barakat was raising funds for a trip to Turkey to provide dental care to Syrian refugees when he was killed, while his wife was due to begin dental studies in the coming months.

The couple had been married for two months.

Mr Hicks described himself as an atheist on Facebook and, according to the New York Post, frequently posted about religion.

“I have every right to insult a religion that goes out of its way to insult, to judge, and to condemn me as an inadequate human being,” he wrote.

Karen Hicks defended her husband, telling the Chapel Hills News and Observer the incident had “nothing to do with the victim’s faith”.

“[It was] related to long-standing parking disputes my husband had with various neighbords regardless of their race, religion or creed,” Mrs Hicks said.

On Twitter, the hashtags #chapelhillshooting and #MuslimLivesMatter began trending, with an outpouring of grief over the death of the young students.

Chapel Hill Police chief Chris Blue said they were investigating whether the murders were racially motivated.

“We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case,” he said.

Remember them like this. Deah and Yusor had names, dreams and families. #MuslimLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/G6YF06gXyO — MohaNNad أبو مازن (@TheMoeDee) February 11, 2015

Look at the smiles.Not more than 6weeks ago they got married.They are Muslim!Will they get Justice #MuslimLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/cR6oNSN1i2

— Hassan Niazi (@HniaziISF) February 11, 2015

My cousin, his wife and sister in law were murdered for being muslim. Someone tell me racism/hate crimes don’t exist. #MuslimLivesMatter — Haya Barakat (@HayaBarakat) February 11, 2015

Bright futures and wonderful lives taken way too early. Rest in peace Deah, Yusor, and Razan. #ChapelHillShooting — Haya Barakat (@HayaBarakat) February 11, 2015

so beautiful, so young, and so undeserving of this terrible islamaphobic tragedy. #MuslimLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/O2lRmcj1tK — han (@nialIads) February 11, 2015