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Prosecutors continued to focus Thursday on the AK-47 rifle they allege Muhammad Syed used to kill 41-year-old Aftab Hussein in 2022.

Officers who searched Syed鈥檚 home the day after his arrest found two military-style weapons and a rifle scope, a crime scene official told jurors.

Prosecutors allege Syed hid behind bushes outside Hussein鈥檚 apartment and used one of those weapons to fire at least nine gunshots, killing Hussein on July 26, 2022.

Syed, 53, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of three Muslim men in July and August 2022. The killings sparked fears in sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Muslim community that a serial killer was targeting Islamic men.

Testimony began Tuesday in Syed鈥檚 trial on a single count of first-degree murder in Hussein鈥檚 killing. He has not been scheduled for trial on the other two counts.

Closing arguments could begin as early as Friday in the 2nd Judicial District Court trial before Judge Britt Baca-Miller.

Jurors also viewed a note extracted from Syed鈥檚 cellphone that prosecutors say documents the time and date of the killing, and describes it as a 鈥渢est鈥� of the weapon.

The note said, 鈥淭est in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 about AKM 47-7.62mm鈥� and listed a time and date, 鈥�9:50 7/26/2022.鈥�

Witnesses testified this week that Hussein was killed at about 10 p.m. on that date, moments after he arrived home and parked outside his apartment building.

Colette Bridgewater, an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department digital intelligence specialist, acknowledged the phone contained no data showing when the note was created.

Bridgewater walked jurors through cellphone records that prosecutors said show Syed鈥檚 cellphone left his home shortly after 9 p.m. the night of the killing.

The records, based on proximity to cellphone towers, show that Syed鈥檚 cell phone arrived in the vicinity of Hussein鈥檚 apartment at about 9:37 p.m., less than 20 minutes before the killing.

Under questioning from Syed鈥檚 attorneys, Bridgewater acknowledged that the records do not indicate who was carrying the phone.

Syed鈥檚 attorneys contend that other members of Syed鈥檚 household could have killed Hussein but that police focused on Syed. At least four other adults in Syed鈥檚 family had access to all the firearms and cellphones in the household, attorney Thomas Clark told jurors in opening statements.

Syed has worn earphones throughout the trial, listening to the testimony related by translators speaking Pashto, the national language of Afghanistan.

Andrea Ortiz, an APD crime scene specialist, told jurors she supervised the search of Syed鈥檚 three-bedroom home in the 3500 block of Crest SE, near Gibson and Carlisle, the morning after Syed鈥檚 arrest.

Officers found two AK-47 M70 weapons and a gun scope in Syed鈥檚 home, Ortiz said.

An AK-47 rifle was found under a queen-size bed in a bedroom that also contained Syed鈥檚 passport and driver鈥檚 licenses, she said.

A pistol-style AK-47 was found in a second bedroom, she said. Both weapons use the same 7.62-caliber rounds used in Hussein鈥檚 killing.

Both weapons were Kalashnikov-style weapons manufactured by Zastava Arms, a Serbian gun manufacturer. Zastava M70 weapons are widely used by military groups throughout the Middle East and Africa.

After his arrest, Syed told detectives that he had been in the Special Forces in Afghanistan and liked the AK-47 because it was similar to a gun he had used there.

Syed and his son purchased the rifle at BMC Tactical, an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 gun store, on July 15, 2022, just 11 days before Hussein鈥檚 killing.

Employees for BMC Tactical testified that Syed filled out the required federal forms to purchase the weapon on July 11, 2022, four days before returning to take possession.

Prosecutors showed jurors an invoice showing that Syed paid a total of $1,199 for the weapon.

Syed鈥檚 son, Shaheen Syed, purchased two Zastava 7.62-caliber weapons at BMC Tactical on July 15, 2022, including both the rifle and the pistol-style weapon, federal court records show.

Shaheen Syed, 22, was arrested on the same day as his father.

The younger Syed is not charged with any of the killings but has pleaded guilty to federal firearms charges for providing false information when he purchased a firearm in 2021.

Muhammad Syed also faces two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of tampering with evidence in the shooting deaths of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, on Aug. 1, 2022, and Naeem Hussein, 25, on Aug. 5, 2022.

Trials on those charges have not been scheduled.