Christopher Lafreniere has a local towing company in the Finley Forest neighborhood of Chapel Hill, where two of the three victims of today’s shooting, as well as the alleged shooter, lived. According to Lafreniere, Craig Stephen Hicks called his towing company about cars that were not parked in the proper spaces so many times that they stopped answering his calls. He says that Hicks called the company “every day, or at least several times a week” for over a year, wanting them to tow cars. He also said that in one of the incidents, Hicks had a gun.

Hicks is charged with three counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Deah Shaddy Barakiat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and Yusor’s sister, 19-year-old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha of Raleigh. The three were found dead inside their apartment Tuesday evening from gunshot wounds to the head.

The family of the victims say that the attack was motivated by hate. Mohammed Abu-Salha, the father of the two women killed, said that Hicks had picked on his daughter and her husband before, and had talked to them with a gun in his belt. They were uncomfortable with him, but had no idea he would go this far.

Lafreniere said he was shocked when he heard about the shootings, initially thinking it was a hate crime. Then he found out who the alleged shooter was and thought, “Hmm, it actually might have been a parking issue,” saying that Hicks was “all about towing.”

Cynthia Hurley, Hicks’ ex-wife, said that he showed “no compassion at all” for others, and said Falling Down was his favorite movie, about an unemployed man who goes on a shooting rampage. She said he watched the movie over and over and “thought it was hilarious.” Karen Hicks, his current wife, sand that her husband “champions the rights of others,” and said that the killings had nothing to do with religion. She said the killings were related to long-standing parking disputes with the neighbors. Later on Wednesday she issued a statement saying she is divorcing Hicks.

Hicks, who appeared in court on Wednesday on first-degree murder charges, has pleaded indigence and has been appointed a public defender. He is unemployed and drives a 15-year-old car. His wife says that he has been studying to become a paralegal. Hicks has a concealed weapons permit and is a Second Amendment rights advocate.

One neighbor of Hicks, Imad Ahmad, said Hicks would come to his door and complain about where they were parked, and would have a gun on his hip. Karen Hicks’ attorney, Robert Maitland, says that “this man was frustrated day in and day out about not being able to park where he wanted.” Another neighbor, Samantha Manness, said every time she saw Hicks he was angry.

Hicks has been cooperating with police. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for March 4.