Obama condemns `outrageous murders' in North Carolina

President Obama has made his first comments about the three young Muslims who were shot to death in North Carolina -- saying no one in America should ever be targeted "because of who they are, what they look like or how they worship."

Obama says in a statement that the FBI will determine whether federal laws were violated in what he calls "the brutal and outrageous murders."

Police say the three were killed Tuesday -- allegedly by their neighbor -- in a long-running dispute over parking spaces. But some have questioned whether the violence was connected to their Muslim faith.

The FBI inquiry is running parallel to the local police homicide investigation.

The victims' families are demanding a hate-crime investigation.