nbc's mark potter is in chapel hill for us tonight. mark, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. the shooting suspect lived in the upstairs condo there, the victims on the first floor behind him. police say this may have simply been a fight over parking spaces. showing no emotion, 46-year-old craig stephen hicks came to court today facing first-degree murder charges for allegedly shooting to death three of his young neighbors. it occurred late yesterday afternoon in a quiet chapel hill condo complex. residents called 911. >> i just heard gunshots. i don't know what building it came from, but i heard kids screaming. >> reporter: a family member says a witness told him that they were shot in the head execution-style. the victims were muslim who had grown up in america. they're identified at a 23-year-old deah shaddy barakat, a dental student at the university of north carolina who'd planned a trip this summer to help syrian refugees. and the woman he'd just married in late december, 21-year-old yusor abu salha about to start den

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mark potter is in chapel hill. what can you tell us mark about this alleged shooter? >> reporter: well, joy, the question you talked about, was this a parking issue or a hate crime, that remains to be answered. but it is interesting, when you talk to people here they describe mr. hicks, accused, as being a very very angry man who was angry virtually at everyone here and the things that would set him off is parking issues and noise issues. we talked to one student, samantha mainis who lives around the corner and the accused lived up in that corner apartment. the victims were around the back, the three who were murdered and so that is how close they were in proximity. the student told us that he would come out frequently yelling at people being very confrontational, in their faces, about people who would park in a way that he didn't like, about noises that he didn't like hearing in a student complex and that he was someone who was feared. feared to the point, because of his actions toward everyone that in the spring or winter of last year she couldn't quite remember whe

mark potter has more. >> at the university of north carolina an emotional vigil wednesday night. a huge crowd of mourners remembering the three young lives cut short. the victims were all muslims raised in america, a 23-year-old university of north carolina dental student, his new wife a 21-year-old, also planning on dental school. and her 19-year-old sister an architecture student. >> they're in the highest levels of paradise for sure. gr the shootings occurred tuesday in a chapel hill condo complex. >> we heard about eight shots go off. >> a 46-year-old craig steven hix, turned himself in to police and was charged with first degree murder. >> his father devastated insist insists the killings were religiously motivated. >> we're hoping to get justice here, but any way you look at it it's just -- it's just a hate crime. >> but police and the suspect's wife say the murders were sparked by a dispute over parking space at the condo. >> i can't say with my absolute belief that this incident had nothing to do with religion or victims' faith. >> mark potter reporting. tonight's vigil w

following all of this in north carolina is nbc's mark potter. mark, there's so much hurt, so much anger about this case and so much suspicion about what's behind this and whether it could be a hate crime. are police ruling that out at this point? >> no they're not ruling it out, and they're looking at it very carefully. very well aware that that's the primary question right now. was this a hate crime or not? and it's a question being asked domestically, a question being asked internationally. and they say they're looking at it but they just don't know. what they are saying preliminarily is that they believe that this was sparked by a parking dispute here at the complex. the shooting occurred around the corner. the three students were shot over there. the man accused lives on this side. so this is the area. they're saying that right now it looks like it was a parking dispute. however, they say the chief is very carefully looking into the possibility that this was a hate crime. they have not ruled it out. they haven't said that's what it was. now,

following all of this in north carolina is nbc's mark potter. about this case and so much suspicion about what's behind this and whether it could be a hate crime. are police ruling that out at

mark potter has the latest. ♪ >> reporter: at the university of north carolina an emotional vigil wednesdayht. a huge crowd of mourners remembering the three young lives cut short. the victims were all muslims raised in america, a university of north carolina dental student, his new wife 21-year-old yusar salha planning on dental school and her sister an architecture student. >> highest levels of paradise for sure. >> the shootings occurred tuesday in a quiet chapel hill complex. 46-year-old craig steven hicks turned himself into police and charged with first degree murder. >> you'll do whatever i'm not staying here. >> his father devastated and insists the killings were religiously motivated. in any way you look at it it's a hate crime. >> reporter: but police and suspect's wife say the murders were sparked by a dispute over parking space at the condo. >> i can't say with my absolute belief this incident had nothing to do with religion or victim's faith. >> that was nbc's mark potter. up next reading the tea leaves what one supreme court justice is saying about gay marriage. this is andrea

nbc's mark potter.hank you very much. >>> we are just getting started on this thursday edition of "the rundown." coming up, it's a busy day in washington, and we'll hang on capitol hill there. republican senator ron johnson joins me to talk more about authorizing force against isis and that keystone veto threat. >>> also we'll head to alabama where major ruling is expected today. will it clear up the state of confusion around same-sex marriage in the courts? >>> plus the man on trial for killing american sniper chris kyle sees another day in court. details on what to expect after a very emotional first day of testimony. major: ok fitness class! here's our new trainer ensure active heart health. crowd: yayyyy! heart: i'm going to focus on the heart. i minimize my sodium and fat... gotta keep it lean and mean. pear: uh-oh. heart: i maximize good stuff like my potassium... and phytosterols, which may help lower cholesterol. major: i'm feeling energized already. new delicious ensure active heart health supp

mark potter joining us now from miami with the flower tale. mark? >> hey, brian.rom, you'd be correct to assume most come from south america. mostly colombia and ecuador and almost all arrive here at miami at the international airport where they are then inspected in warehouse and refrigerated warehouses. the numbers involved are absolutely stunning. officials say that in last year last right valentine's day and the six weeks before as many as 800 million cut flowers came into the united states. right before the day, there were as many as 22 million cut flowers coming into miami alone. now, of course that poses big challenges for these agricultural inspectors from u.s. customs and border protection who have to make sure the flowers are free of disease and insects that could affect u.s. crops. just a short time ago we spoke to the commissioner who said the work being done here on this inspection line is very important. >> they're looking for mites. they're looking for aphids. they're looking for other bugs. any of those things brought into the united states can rea

to reporter on the scene joining us now from chapel hill north carolina nbc news correspondent mark potter. mark, we saw unc students holding a huge vigil last night. want to hear how the community is coping but are there any clear answers from either side on this? >> reporter: no clear answers yet. but a lot of controversy and a lot of grief in this community as you indicated, mika. there was a big vigil at the university of north carolina last night. by our count, 2 to 3,000 people there mourning the loss of these students whose lives were caught so short. where i'm standing right now is front of the condo building where these killings occurred. that upstairs condo is where the suspect lived. the victims lived on the first floor behind him. now, as you said the police say that this killing was sparked by a dispute over parking spaces. but the victims' families are just not buying it. they don't believe it. showing no emotion, 46-year-old craig steven hicks came to court facing first degree murder charges for allegedly shooting to death three of his young neighbors. it occurred late yeste

nbc's mark potter has the latest on this. rk, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt, the killings have sparked a huge outpouring of grief. victims were highly regarded and their murders seem so senseless ♪ >> reporter: at the university of north carolina, an emotional vigil wednesday night. a huge crowd of mourners remembering the three young lives cut short. the victims were all muslims raised in america. 23-year-old deah barakat. a university of north carolina dental student. his new wife. also planning on dental school. and her 19-year-old sister, razon, a dental student. shootings occurred tuesday in a quiet condo complex. 46-year-old craig stephen hicks, a neighbor, turned himself into police and was charged with first-degree murder. the father, devastated, insists the killings were religiously motivated. >> we are hoping to get justice here, but in anyway you look at it, it's just a hate crime. >> reporter: but police and the suspect's wife say the murders were sparked by a dispute over a parking space at

well, it would be really nice if we had something like a dark mark from harry potter that told us whenorks were insecure, that we were owned. that all of our data would pop up on the screen, you're owned. the dark lord is coming. but we don't have any of this stuff, and it's really hard to enforce our rights claims in cyberspace. so this is where i think the philosopher comes to the rescue. when we think about cyberspace and enforcing our claims of justice and making sure that we can -- the state can protect us or different types of things he tells us a couple of things. you have jurisdictions, borders and laws but in cyberspace we don't have that and jurisdiction is a problem. then he says when that's a problem, what do you do? you actually fight with other states and that's how you prosecute your rights when you don't have the jurisdictional claims that you need. you go to your army and navy. but this is even a problem and it's completely insecure and it's not a good bet. then you need to create a free federation of states for a defense of community, much like nato, right? so we have

. >> mark potter thank you. >>> let's turn to natalie. a major announcement from the russian president this morning. >> probably a break through after marathon talks. prugs president vladimir putin says ukrainian troops and separatist versus agreed to a cease-fire. fill neely is in london with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie natalie, after 16 hours of negotiation tarp called extremely difficult, there is a deal and doubts about it. the deal seems unlikely t. key points are a cease-fire from sunday morning, heavy weapons to be pulled out of eastern ukraine in two weeks and a commitment no more than that for all foreign troops to be withdrawn. however, germany warning this morning that this is not a comprehensive solution. it's not a break through. and there is a lot of work still to be done. there are issues unresolved for example, how exactly is ukraine to get control again of its international border and remember this is a rehashed version of a deal six months ago that wasn't worth the paper it was written on

it would be really nice if we had something like a dark mark from harry potter that told us when our networks were insecure, that all of our data would pop up on the screen. you are owned. the dark lord is coming. but we don't have any of this stuff. it's really hard to enforce our rights claims in cyberspace. this is where i think immanuel kant, is to the rescue. and we think about cyberspace and think about rights claims in enforcing our claims of justice and making sure that the state can protect us or different types of things const tells us a couple of things. when he says that the state needs to have a the monopoly on coercive force in order protect our rights. and to do this you have jurisdictions, you have borders and laws but in cyberspace we don't have the monopoly and jurisdiction is a problem. then he says when that's a problem what a problem what do you do? you go when you actually fight with other states and that is how you prosecute your rights when you don't have jurisdiction on claims that you need. okay you go to your army, you go to your navy and they help you enfo

it would be really nice if we had something like a dark mark from harry potter told us when our networks are insecure and that in all of the data on the screen you are owned. but we don't have any of this stuff and it's hard to try to enforce our rights in cyberspace. so this is where we come to the rescue. when we think of cyberspace and the rights claims and enforcing our claims of justice and making sure that we can protect the data and different types of things, he tells us a couple of things. one, he says that the state needs to have the monopoly in order to protect our rights. to do this you have jurisdictions and borders and everything is great but in cyberspace we don't have the monopoly and jurisdiction is a problem so then he says while when that is a problem or do you do, you go and actually fight with other states and that's how you prosecute your rights when you don't have the jurisdictional claims that you need. you go to your army and/or navy. and it's completely insecure and it's not a good bet so then you need to create a free federation state for the defense of communit