The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has opened an investigation into the killing of three young Muslims at a US college town in North Carolina, US President Barack Obama said yesterday after allegations arose that the shooting was a hate crime.

In addition to the local investigation, Obama said, the FBI would also examine whether federal laws were violated when the suspect, Craig Stephen Hicks, allegedly gunned down dentistry student Shaddy Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohammad and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.