An undocumented immigrant accused of fatally shooting an Orthodox Jewish man multiple times as he walked to a synagogue in Chicago last month used his cell phone to search synagogues and Jewish community centers in the area shortly before the attack, according to reports. It is said that fox 32 chicago. His phone also contained more than 100 “anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas” images and videos, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, citing police.
Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, a Mauritanian national, is charged with hate crimes and terrorism over the October 26 attack. In the incident, he is accused of fatally shooting a 39-year-old Jewish man who was wearing a kippah on his way to a synagogue in Chicago. West Rogers Park District. The victim was hit in the shoulder.
Police said Abdallahi was identified less than 30 minutes after the shooting, at which point he allegedly fired at responders before police said he “fired back and struck the gunman.” Abdallahi was hospitalized after being shot multiple times. There were no injuries to police or fire personnel.
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Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi is accused of shooting and killing a Jewish man who was on his way to a synagogue. (Cook County Sheriff's Office)
At a detention hearing Friday, prosecutors said Abdallahi's cell phone data showed he had been searching for targets in the days before the shooting.
Among the addresses Abdallahi mapped on his phone were a synagogue just a block from the shooting scene and another synagogue in Hyde Park. According to prosecutors, two weeks before the shooting, his Google search history showed him searching for “Jewish community center” and a gun store in the Lyon suburbs.
“This was nothing short of a planned attack…an assassination attempt on these people,” Assistant State's Attorney Ann McCord Rogers said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “This was a calculated plan, an attempted massacre of that person and law enforcement officers…on a public road.”
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, McCord-Rogers said surveillance footage showed Abdallahi firing at the man, then running away and walking toward the victim, apparently trying to dislodge a jammed semi-automatic handgun. He was reportedly seen running away again.
Abdallahi then drove several blocks away and returned to the scene of the shooting on foot, passing a woman in a stroller, police said.
Illegal immigrant shot to death of Jewish man in illegal city
The victim, described by the Jewish Unity Fund as a “member of the Jewish community,” was reportedly shot in the shoulder in Chicago. (Fox32 Chicago)
McCord-Rogers said he then fired twice at four police officers who were searching for evidence and two paramedics who were treating the wounded.
Abdallahi then ran down an alley and through a garden, circling back toward the ambulance as paramedics loaded up the injured. Abdallahi fired again at the ambulance, and a fifth police officer returned fire, hitting the ambulance twice.
He then fled and ran across the front yard, where he stopped and fired at officers. After another exchange of gunfire with police, Abdallahi was shot and fell to the ground, before getting back up and firing at police before collapsing on the sidewalk, the magazine said.
Police later searched his car and found Abdallahi's cell phone, revealing the target's location and pro-Hamas content.
Abdallahi was originally charged with 14 felonies, including six counts of attempted murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm against a police officer or firefighter, and one count of aggravated assault with a firearm. One felony count of terrorism and one felony count of hate crime were later added to the charges.
Assistant Public Defender Josh Thigpen said Abdallahi had lived in the United States for “at least two years” and worked in an Amazon warehouse.
He was arrested in California in March 2023 and entered the United States illegally before being released, four law enforcement officials told Fox News.
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Police are investigating a shooting that occurred on October 26th in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. (Fox32 Chicago)
Mauritania is a Muslim-majority country in northwest Africa. Due to safety concerns, the Department of Homeland Security considers illegal immigrants from Mauritania to be “special interest aliens” and are subject to additional DHS review.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initially told Fox News Digital it had no connection to him. Law enforcement officials say Abdallahi has been requested to be detained and, if released, transferred to ICE custody, but Cook County, Illinois' “sanctuary” policy prevents local authorities from holding the case. It is forbidden to cooperate with this.
FOX News' Sarah Rumpf-Witten, Adam Shaw, Bill Melgin and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
