A man accused of shooting and injuring a 39-year-old man who was on his way to synagogue in West Rogers Park last month used his phone to search for synagogues and Jewish community centers in Chicago before the attack, prosecutors said Friday.
Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, is charged with attempted murder, terrorism, a hate crime and aggravated discharge of a firearm in the Oct. 26 attack that unfolded on a Saturday morning in the North Side neighborhood.
Abdallahi crept behind the man, who was wearing traditional dress on his way to a nearby synagogue, and shot him, prosecutors said. When Chicago police officers and an ambulance arrived on the scene, Abdallahi fired at the ambulance where the victim was being treated, as well as five police officers who returned fire, striking and injuring him, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord.
Judge Susana Ortiz ordered him detained while awaiting trial. Abdallahi, who recovered in a hospital for several weeks after being shot, appeared in court with the help of a walker.
His public defender said he came to Chicago from Mauritania and had been working in an Amazon warehouse.
“This was a calculated plan on a public street involving someone’s religious affiliation and an attempted slaughter of a member of that community,” Ortiz said.
The attack happened in a neighborhood that’s home to the highest concentration of Jewish citizens in the city and spurred calls to the state’s attorney’s office to include hate crime charges against Abdallahi.
While walking in the 2600 block of West Farwell Avenue, the victim heard footsteps behind him and a loud gunshot, McCord said. He didn’t realize he had been shot until he saw a hole in his suit coat.
Surveillance video captured Abdallahi in the neighborhood, and showed that he stayed in the area after the shooting, McCord said.
While officers were searching for evidence, Abdallahi shot at the officers, then ran down an alley, she said. Surveillance footage captured Abdallahi shooting at the ambulance as it drove away with the victim, according to McCord.
Officers took cover, and Abdallahi again fired at them, McCord said. As officers fired back, Abdallahi fell, but sat up and continued to shoot, she said.
Police took him into custody when he stopped moving, McCord said.
“This was 9:30 in the morning in a residential neighborhood,” McCord said. “There are people outside. It is a weekend. A woman is pushing a stroller and a man is trying to just attend his synagogue.”
McCord said the examination of Abdallahi’s cellphone is continuing, but so far, investigators have located more than 100 antisemitic images, videos and screenshots.
His search history included a suburban gun store, firing range and two Jewish community centers, she said. He used Google Maps to favorite the locations of two synagogues, according to McCord.
