More details are emerging, including a reported Facebook page, about the man who allegedly beheaded a woman in an Oklahoma City suburb Thursday after he lost his job amid questions about when he converted to Islam.
Moore Police Department Jeremy Lewis told Fox News that suspect Alton Nolen will be arraigned as soon as he is released from the hospital. Charges of first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon were presented to a district attorney Monday.
Nolen is suspected of attacking two women, beheading one of them, shortly after being fired Thursday at Vaughan Foods in Moore. Police say reserve sheriff's deputy Mark Vaughan, the company's chief operating officer, ended the attack by shooting Nolen.
Co-workers said Nolen tried to convert them to Islam after his own recent conversion.
Nolen, according to state corrections records, was convicted in January 2011 of multiple felony drug offenses, assault and battery on a police officer and escape from detention. He was released from prison in March 2013.
Moore Police told Fox 25 that the FBI is looking into a Facebook page with the name “Jah'Keem Yisrael,” which contains several photos of Nolen amid posts and pictures regarding Islam.
Photos of former Al Qaeda chief Usama Bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks were uploaded to the timeline, according to the station.
Another post reportedly shows a beheaded man with the quote "I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their fingertips off them."
Prior to Nolen’s 2013 prison release, posts on the page referenced a job interview, the 49ers making the Super Bowl and music. But after Nolen was let out of prison, the tone of the page shifted to topics related to Islam.
“Dnt yall knw why the Eastern part of the world hates Amerika?” read one post on March 3, 2014. “Everything God says don't do Amerika does.”
Oklahoma Department of Corrections records also show that Nolen has what appear to be religious tattoos, including one referencing Jesus and one in Arabic that means "peace be with you."
On Saturday night, Nolen’s mother, Joyce, took to Facebook to apologize to the two victims in a short video, according to The Oklahoman.
“My heart is just so heavy right now,” she said. “That’s not my son.
His family, our hearts bleed right now because what they saying Alton has done,” Joyce Nolen added. “I want to apologize to both families — because this is not Alton.”
Nolen’s sister, Megan, also says in the video that their family is surprised because Alton never exhibited any violent behavior.
Paige Nolen, who is also a sister of the suspect, told the Oklahoman that she spoke to Alton on Thursday – before the beheading – and he seemed “in high spirits.”
Paige Nolen said Alton was happy went he received the job at the Moore food processing plant.
“He was really happy because everyone he talked to told him it’s going to be hard getting a job with the felonies. ... I’ll never forget, you know, him feeling like he conquered it at that time.”
At the plant on Thursday, Nolen was apparently attacking employees at random, authorities said. The motive for the attack is unclear, but FBI officials confirmed to Fox News that they were assisting the Moore Police Department in investigating Nolen's background and whether his recent conversion to Islam was somehow linked to the crime.
Lewis told KFOR that Nolen drove to the front of the business and struck a vehicle before walking inside. He then attacked Colleen Hufford, 54, stabbing her several times before severing her head. He also stabbed another woman, 43-year-old Traci Johnson, at the plant.
Lewis said Mark Vaughan, the company’s chief operating officer and a reserve county deputy, shot Nolen as he was stabbing Johnson.
Nolen and Johnson were both hospitalized and are expected to recover.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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