Chicago hate crime shooting suspect researched Jewish targets, had pro-Hamas material on his phone: prosecutor

An illegal migrant accused of shooting an Orthodox Jewish man multiple times as he made his way to a Chicago Synagogue last month used his cellphone to scour for synagogues and Jewish community centers in the area shortly before the attack, according to Fox 32 Chicago. His cell phone also contained more than 100 "antisemitic and pro-Hamas" images and videos, according to the Chicago Sun Times citing police. 

Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, a Mauritanian national, has been hit with hate crime and terrorism charges for the Oct. 26 attack in which he is accused of shooting a 39-year-old Jewish man who was wearing a kippah while walking to his synagogue in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood. The victim was struck in the shoulder.

Abdallahi, police said, was identified less than 30 minutes after the shooting, at which point he allegedly shot at responders before police "returned fire, striking the offender." Abdallahi was hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds. No members of the police or fire departments were injured.

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At a detention hearing Friday, prosecutors said Abdallahi’s cellphone data showed the suspect had been seeking out targets for days before shooting.

Among several addresses Abdallahi had mapped on his phone was a synagogue just a block from the shooting scene and another synagogue in Hyde Park. Two weeks before the shooting, his Google search history showed he had looked up "Jewish Community center" and a gun store in suburban Lyons, prosecutors said. 

"This was not anything but a planned attack … an attempted assassination of these people," Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers said, per the Chicago Sun Times. "This was a calculated plan, on a public street... and an attempted slaughter of that person and law enforcement officers."

A surveillance camera showed Abdallahi fire at the man, run off, then try to clear his apparently jammed semi-automatic pistol while walking back toward the victim, before again running off, McCord Rodgers said, per the Chicago Sun Times.

Abdallahi then drove a few blocks away, parked, and returned on foot to the shooting scene, walking past a woman with a baby stroller, she added.

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He then fired twice in the direction of four police officers searching for evidence and a pair of paramedics tending to the wounded man, McCord Rodgers said. 

Abdallahi then ran down an alley, cut through a yard and then circled back toward the ambulance as paramedics were loading the injured man. Abdallahi again shot at the ambulance, hitting it twice as a fifth police officer returned fire.

He then fled and ran through a front yard, where he paused to fire another shot at a police officer. After another exchange of gunfire with police, Abdallahi was shot and fell to the ground, but rose again to allegedly fire on the police before collapsing on the sidewalk, McCord Rodgers said, per the publication.

Police then searched his car and found Abdallahi’s cell phone, which revealed the target locations and the pro-Hamas material.

Abdallahi initially faced 14 felony counts, including six counts of attempted murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm at a police officer or firefighter, and one count of aggravated battery with a firearm. One felony count of terrorism and one felony count of a hate crime have since been added to the charges.

Abdallahi had lived in the U.S. for "at least two years" and worked at an Amazon warehouse, Assistant Public Defender Josh Thigpen said.

Four law enforcement sources tell Fox News that he entered the U.S. illegally before being apprehended in California in March 2023 and released into the U.S.

Mauritania is a majority Muslim country in northwest Africa. The Department of Homeland Security deems illegal immigrants from Mauritania as "special interest aliens" due to security concerns, and they are supposed to receive additional DHS vetting. 

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 a detainer request on Abdallahi — a request that he be 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.

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.