I could have sworn I saw more than one reference to him being in a particularly islamic area, physically surrounded by many islamic neighbors.
A middle eastern neighbor was quoted in one of the articles and some poster went off on how this was an islamic area. It’s not. There are tons of middle easterners all over Northern Virginia. And tons of Koreans. And tons of lots of other folks from all over.
Heck, I was in Alexandria last weekend and the entire neighborhood near where I stayed was filled with Mexican groceries, restaurants from everywhere and many other ethnic services.