Imam Hassan Sharif shot dead outside the mosque near New York

An imam who was shot on Wednesday outside a mosque near New York has died.

Police in the city of Newark, New Jersey, did not give a motive for the incident.

Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Frage had earlier confirmed “police responded to a call of a male shot” Wednesday morning.

Officers confirmed that the man was the imam, and that the incident happened outside a mosque. An investigation is underway.

Images published by the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) showed police vehicles deployed outside the Masjid Muhammad-Newark mosque, a two-story yellow and green complex.

At a news conference, state Attorney General Matt Platkin said investigators still don’t know the motive behind the shooting.