The three were named by police as Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21 and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19.

In a statement, police said they responded to a report of gunshots in the usually quiet area of Summerwalk Circle in Chapel Hill at 5.11pm local time on Tuesday. Upon arrival, officers found the three young individuals, who were pronounced dead at the scene.

Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and ordered held without bail Wednesday morning.

"Our preliminary investigation indicates that the crime was motivated by an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking," Chapel Hill Police said in a prepared statement. "Hicks is cooperating with investigators and more information may be released at a later time."

Police earlier said they were also investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime. All three victims were Muslim.

Two of the victims -- Deah Barakat, 23, a second-year student in UNC's School of Dentistry, and Yusor Mohammad, 21, a prospective dental student -- were married. Mohammad's sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, was a sophomore at North Carolina State University.

The alleged killer calmly turned himself in to local police in the town of Chapel Hill on Tuesday, shortly after the shootings.

The nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization, The Council on American-Islamic Relations, requested law enforcement authorities address speculation about a possible bias motive in the homicide.

Information about the shooting was heavily shared on social media, fueling hashtags such as #MuslimLivesMatter and #ChapelHillShooting to trend across the United States.

With Press