The killing was believed the first police have confirmed as a reprisal for last week's attacks, which left more than 5,000 dead or missing. A Pakistani grocer in Texas was shot to death in a possible hate crime over the weekend, but the motive was not yet confirmed, police said.

     Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said the murder of 49-year-old Balbir Singh Sodhi in the parking lot of his Mesa, Arizona, gas station on Saturday was a "a bitter violation of America's ideals."

     "Mr. Sodhi was apparently killed for no other reason than because he was dark-skinned, bearded and wore a turban. ... He was killed because of hate," Romley said, suggesting that the murderer mistook him for someone of Middle Eastern descent like those suspected in the attacks.

     The U.S. government has pointed at Saudi-born Osama bin Laden as the chief suspect in the attacks, which have fueled a spate of violent incidents against Arab-Americans and individuals who resemble them.

     Police arrested Frank Roque, 42, in the shooting.

     Det. Tim Gaffney, a spokesman for the Mesa Police Department, told Reuters that as Roque was being arrested, he said: "I am a patriot, an American. I am an American. I am a damn American all the way. ... Arrest me and let those terrorists run wild."

     Roque has been charged with one count of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted murder and three counts of drive-by shooting. He is said to be from the Phoenix area and is being held on $1 million bail.

     Along with allegedly shooting Sodhi, Roque is suspected of fired at another gas station, where the clerk was of Lebanese descent, and the apparent residence of an Afghani family. No one was injured in those attacks.

     Sodhi's death has drawn international concern and prompted India to urge the U.S. to take steps to prevent assaults on Sikhs living in America.

     Family members have said that Sodhi was originally from the Punjab in northwest India and he had been in the United States for about 10 years. He previously lived in San Francisco, where he drove a taxi, and moved to Mesa to be near his brother. He was planning to return to India to be with his wife and a son, according to family members.

     A makeshift memorial now stands at Sodhi's gas station as a reminder of what happened in the large suburban community southeast of Phoenix.

     Police said the shooting spree started at about 2:45 p.m. (5:45 p.m. EDT/2145 GMT), when Mesa police responded to a call that shots had been fired at the gas station. Witnesses reported that someone in a black Chevrolet pickup truck had driven up, shot Sodhi and sped away.

     About 20 minutes later, police received a second call about a similar shooting at another Mesa gas station. Then came the report of a shooting at a nearby residence.