An Illinois teenager accused of targeting a Hindu temple in a mass shooting allegedly abandoned the attack after his rifle jammed, saying he would return after he repaired the weapon so he could try again, according to the prosecution's account of the case.
Alexandros Paporakis, a 19-year-old Taco Bell cashier, has been charged with making a terrorist threat and unlawfully possessing a weapon after, authorities said, they uncovered a white supremacist plot against a Hindu place of worship in the Aurora vicinity.
Prosecutors with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office presented the allegations Wednesday during a pretrial detention hearing at the Third Municipal District courthouse in Rolling Meadows, according to multiple reports.
According to the prosecution’s case, as reported by FOX 32 Chicago, a coworker told investigators that Paporakis called him Sunday afternoon and said his gun had jammed and that he had gotten away “super-fast.”
The coworker believed Paporakis was driving during the call, the station reported. Prosecutors alleged that the teen subsequently sent the coworker a video showing an AR-style rifle failing to fire when its trigger was pulled, as well as a photograph of himself wearing a tactical vest.
In messages described by prosecutors, Paporakis allegedly said he was fortunate that he had fired the weapon while inside his vehicle and that no one had seen him. Authorities said the suspect also discussed possible ways of repairing the rifle, saying in a message that he could “retry when I fix this.”
According to court documents obtained by ABC7 Chicago, Paporakis had been planning the attack for two years. Authorities alleged that Paporakis drove to the Aurora temple and attempted to open fire before the weapon malfunctioned. The outlet reported that the filing said he returned home and searched online for information about clearing the jam.
Police have not disclosed the name of the temple targeted.
Coworkers Alerted Authorities
The investigation began Sunday after the Mount Prospect Police Department received information from a person who reported concerning electronic communications from Paporakis, according to police.
Prosecutors told the court that a coworker said Paporakis had openly identified himself as a white supremacist while working as a cashier at a Taco Bell in Arlington Heights. The coworker also said that he regularly made disparaging remarks about other racial groups, expressed particular hatred toward Indian people and discussed Nazis and armed struggle, according to CBS Chicago’s account of the hearing.
On the day before his arrest, Paporakis allegedly told a coworker he could not wait to kill Indian people and was planning “it” at the largest Hindu temple in Aurora, prosecutors said. Another coworker told investigators that Paporakis described the following day as “a special day.”
Officers from the Mount Prospect and Palatine police departments later arrested Paporakis as he was leaving his home, police said.
Investigators searching his home recovered an AR-style rifle without a serial number, loaded magazines, ammunition and tactical equipment, according to police and prosecutors. Authorities also reported finding body armor and items bearing imagery associated with white supremacist extremism.
Police said they examined a document attributed to Paporakis titled “Why I Fought: A.K.A. (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto).” The document contained white supremacist rhetoric and references to violence against people of South Asian heritage, particularly those of Indian descent, according to the Palatine Police Department.
The Associated Press (AP), which obtained a court document in the case, reported that the eight-page text disparaged Indian, Jewish and Black people and outlined a plan to kill as many people as possible. According to AP, Paporakis also allegedly described himself in the document as “a sociopathic white supremacist Neo Nazi filled with hatred, fantasizing about mass murder nearly every day.”
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FBI Praises 'Swift Action'
Ryan Whalen, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Chicago office, said following the charging announcement that federal agents work with state and local authorities to identify and disrupt threatened violence driven by radical ideologies.
“The FBI aggressively works alongside our local and state law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and dismantle any threats of violence driven by radical ideologies,” Whalen posted online..
“Thanks to the swift action by the Palatine and Mount Prospect Police Departments, the subject was taken into custody without harm to our community,” he continued. “The FBI values these strong partnerships and will continue to use every law enforcement and prosecutorial resource available to bring any offender using fear or violence to justice.”
William Nord, chief of the Palatine Police Department, said the seriousness of the alleged threat “cannot be overstated.”
“Reading through the manifesto, he did state some extremist ideologies and talked about violence, he talked about mass killings and how he wanted to carry out this mass shooting,” Nord told CBS Chicago.
Paporakis is scheduled to appear in court on October 30. It was not clear if he has an attorney representing him as of Wednesday night.
Newsweek contacted BAPS North America and its Chicago-area temple for comment.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Anna Commander and Edward T. Cummins