Orthodox Jewish man shot while on his way to synagogue in Chicago; suspect not charged with hate crime amid outcry

An Orthodox Jewish man wearing a kippah was shot while on his way to a Chicago synagogue Saturday — but the 22-year-old shooting suspect, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, wasn't charged with a hate crime amid community outcry.

Chicago police said Abdallahi was identified as the offender who shot the 39-year-old male victim in the 2600 block of West Farwell Avenue around 9:30 a.m. NBC News reported that the victim is Jewish and was wearing the Jewish skullcap while on his way to services on the Jewish sabbath.

'We are visibly Jewish, and that puts a target on our backs.'

Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a Monday news conference that the suspect shot the victim "in the shoulder without saying a word," NBC News added. Snelling also said there wasn't enough evidence to add hate crime charges but noted it remained a possibility. The victim was treated in a hospital and discharged Saturday afternoon, NBC News said.

Police said about 30 minutes after the first shooting, Abdallahi fired at responding officers and paramedics multiple times from various locations. Police said officers returned fire, striking the offender, who was placed into custody, taken to an area hospital, and charged. Police said a weapon was recovered at the scene. Police said no officers or fire department members were injured. The suspect was in critical condition, investigators told WGN-TV.

Video you can view here apparently shows part of the suspect's second wave of gunfire.

Abdallahi was charged with six counts of first-degree attempted murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm upon a police officer/firefighter, and one count of aggravated battery/discharge of a firearm, all of which are felonies, police said. Abdallahi's detention hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, police added.

City Alderman Debra Silverstein — who attends the same synagogue as the Jewish man who was shot — said at the same news conference Monday that there's increased fear among local Jews, NBC News noted.

"A man wearing the kippah as he walked to synagogue was shot, and this has just escalated our anxieties," she said, according to the news network, which added that Silverstein in a later message to constituents wrote that she's "very disappointed" that hate crime charges had not been filed despite "evidence that seems to suggest an antisemitic motive for the shooting."

Silverstein told CBS News she visited the victim Saturday night after his hospital release and noted he's doing "OK."

Rabbi Shlomo Soroka of the Agudath Israel of Illinois told WMAQ-TV "at the end of the day, it’s as traumatic whether or not it gets that terminology of being a hate crime. My family lives here. My community lives here. We are visibly Jewish, and that puts a target on our backs."

As for the present lack of hate crime charges, the rabbi noted to the outlet "there’s no question that from an emotional standpoint, it’s disappointing. But I think it’s equally important to understand that whether or not there is a hate crime charge, that’s a technicality. That doesn’t change the reality of our experience.”

Soroka added to WFLD-TV that the victim — described as an Orthodox Jew — took his "little girls with him" to synagogue "every single week." But for some reason, not this past Saturday.

"And this week, this particular week, he decided to go by himself, and his little girls weren’t with him," Soroka observed. "Can you imagine what would have happened if those little girls were with him?"

Abraham Trachtman told WBBM-TV there's a large Orthodox Jewish community in the area, and he also was headed to a local synagogue when he was told of the shooting: "A Jewish guy walking to synagogue, Saturday morning, Sabbath morning, it just, it doesn't make sense."

Local Jewish leaders also noted to WFLD that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson hadn't acknowledged the shooting or their pain.

More from NBC News:

Attacks on Jews in the United States tripled in less than a year after Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants, according to data from the ADL Center on Extremism. Attacks on Muslims and Arabs in the U.S. also increased, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.

Sunday marked six years since a gunman opened fire on a congregation at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 people in the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history.

You can view a video report here about the shooting.

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