Chapel Hill, May 7 (RHC)-- A middle-aged white man charged with the killing of three American Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in February, shot the victims in the head, autopsy reports reveal.

Craig Hicks shot dead Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus on February 10th. According to autopsies released on Wednesday, Barakat was shot multiple times in the head and chest after he answered the door to his apartment. Barakat's wife and her sister were also both shot in the head.

According to the autopsies, the women died of contact wounds to the head, indicating the gun was very close or against their heads. The autopsies show the shooter was standing over the women when he fired the shots because Yusor was shot in the top of the head, her sister was shot in the upper back of the head, and the bullets traveled downward.