Suspect accused of shooting Orthodox Jewish man who was on his way to synagogue is an illegal immigrant: Report

The suspect accused of shooting an Orthodox Jewish man who was on his way to synagogue in Chicago last weekend is an illegal immigrant, Fox News reported.

The shooting suspect — 22-year-old Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi — is a Mauritanian national who was released into the United States after being captured in Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector in March 2023, the cable network said, citing four law enforcement sources.

A Jewish advocacy group said Chicago police indicated during a Monday meeting with the group that Abdallahi shouted 'Allahu Akbar' during a later shoot-out with cops, WMAQ-TV reported.

Fox News noted that the Department of Homeland Security views illegal immigrants from Mauritania — a majority Muslim country in northwest Africa — as "special interest aliens" over security concerns and that they're supposed to receive additional DHS vetting.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had initially told Fox News Digital that it had no interaction with him. Law enforcement sources say that there is detainer request on Abdallahi — a request that he is transferred to ICE custody in the event of his release — but that 'sanctuary' policies in Cook County, Illinois, prohibit local authorities from cooperating with it.

What's the background?

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

A Jewish advocacy group said Chicago police indicated during a Monday meeting with the group that Abdallahi shouted "Allahu Akbar" during a later shoot-out with cops, WMAQ-TV reported.

The station noted that the group — the Jewish United Fund — said police who met with its members indicated that Abdallahi shouted the well-known Muslim declaration while firing at officers, which led to a concern that hate played a role in the incident. However, WMAQ said police haven't confirmed those details to the station.

Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling on Tuesday said there wasn't enough evidence to charge Abdallahi with a hate crime due to the suspect still being in the hospital in the wake of the shoot-out, the station said.

"We do investigations [that are] based on facts that we gather into evidence in order to present charges," Snelling said, according to WMAQ. "Until we have those facts, we will not announce charges. It's about what we can prove at the time based on the facts."

The suspect shot the victim "in the shoulder without saying a word," Snelling said at a Monday news conference, according to NBC News, which added that the victim was treated in a hospital and discharged Saturday afternoon.

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.

You can view video here apparently showing part of the suspect's second wave of gunfire, and he hollers something at the 43-second mark after firing a shot. While that same moment is included in WLS-TV's video report at the 13-second mark, the station cuts the audio just before the suspect's outburst.

'What will it take for you to acknowledge the Jewish community?'

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.

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 anti-Semitic motive for the shooting."

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

Rabbi Shlomo Soroka of Agudath Israel of Illinois told WMAQ-TV in regard to the lack of hate crime charges that "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 that there's a large Orthodox Jewish community in the area and that 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. However, Johnson's office on Tuesday issued the following statement:

On behalf of the City of Chicago, our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his loved ones from this weekend’s shooting incident that took place in Rogers Park. This tragic event should have never happened, and we recognize the dedication of our first responders who put their lives on the line during this shooting. The Mayor’s Office is in close communication with the Chicago Police Department as the investigation continues. All Chicagoans deserve to feel safe and protected across the city. There is more work to be done, and we are committed to diligently improving community safety in every neighborhood.

However, the Jewish United Fund told Johnson in response, "You failed to identify that the victim was a Jewish man, in a densely populated Jewish neighborhood, going to synagogue for Shabbat morning prayers. What will it take for you to acknowledge the Jewish community?"

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