Oct 29, 2024
Leaders of Chicago's Jewish community pressed for hate crime charges Tuesday against a man accused of shooting an Orthodox Jewish man near a West Ridge synagogue, as the suspect remained too incapacitated from wounds he suffered in a police shootout to attend his first court hearing.The 22-year-old suspect, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, remained on a ventilator at a hospital due to gunshot wounds from the shootout, unable to be interviewed by police who say they still don't know his motive.Home surveillance video shared with the Sun-Times shows the moments when the suspect returned to the crime scene and opened fire a second time, sparking the gun battle with police.Jewish leaders said they hope authorities are able to file hate crime charges, but urged the community to show patience while police continue to investigate the shooting, "if we want the charges to stick."Police have said that the 39-year-old victim was walking in the 2600 block of West Farwell Avenue about 9:30 a.m. Saturday when a man following him opened fire, striking the victim in the shoulder. As paramedics were rendering aid to the victim, and officers were investigating the scene, the gunman emerged from an alley and fired shots at the officers, hitting a Chicago Fire Department ambulance, police said. Police returned fire and struck him multiple times.The suspect allegedly said something to the officers during the shootout, though it is unclear what that was. But the suspect did not say anything before shooting the Jewish man minutes earlier, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling told reporters Monday.‘We hit the floor’Doorbell video from one home shows the suspect emerge from a driveway, shoot in the direction of a dog walker, then run down the street toward where police were investigating on West Farwell Avenue. The suspect leaves the view of the camera before a second volley of gunfire erupts. A second video, from the corner where police were investigating, shows the suspect turn a corner on a sidewalk between Farwell and Washtenaw avenues. An officer taking cover near a doorway can be seen opening fire.The suspect tumbles to the ground, then extends his arm holding a pistol before he collapses face-up amid more gunfire. The officer in view of the home's camera can be seen shooting at least a dozen times.Officers, still taking cover, then yell at the suspect to turn over, according to Temple Schultz, who shared the video with the Sun-Times.Schultz was inside her home when the second shooting occurred."We hit the floor," she said. "And then we heard the cops saying over and over again, 'Roll over on your stomach.'" She approached a window and saw the suspect splayed out on the sidewalk with a puddle of blood nearby.Schultz said she can't recall a shooting on the block in her 18 years living there.The woman who provided the first video said she was looking out her front window when the suspect returned and opened fire on a dog walker. "He shot once towards him [the dog walker], just one shot," said Malka, who asked to be identified by only her first name. "Then he went forward and started shooting at the police."Malka said she feared for her life when she saw the gunman, assuming that he might have been targeting her home, which bears a large half-Israeli, half-American flag on the front porch.Jewish leaders urge hate crime chargesRabbis and the head of the Anti-Defamation League's local chapter called the shooting a realization of the Jewish community's "worst fears."The attempted murder charges filed against Abdallahi are "a good start," said David Goldenberg, Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. But he urged patience among those who want hate crime charges to be filed as well. Supporters look on as Shlomo Soroka, director of government affairs at Agudath Israel Illinois, speaks during a news conference at a West Rogers Park synagogue to discuss a recent shooting in the Northwest Side neighborhood, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times "I have been involved in literally dozens of hate crimes investigations over the last few years, and I know that sometimes we need to be patient if we want the charges to stick, even when our lived experiences make it seemingly clear and obvious," Goldenberg said.Cook County Judge Deidre Dyer on Tuesday ordered Abdallahi to be detained, but no new details were revealed at the hearing. Police officer Ed Kelly said Abdallahi was in the intensive care unit at St. Francis hospital in Evanston.An assistant state's attorney offered no motive. The prosecutor said the suspect shot one man and opened fire at five police officers and two EMS workers.Speaking from a North Side Jewish center, Goldenberg also urged people not to respond to the attack with hate or "evil words.""I urge our own community, regardless of the anger, the fear, the exhaustion and the exasperation we all feel, myself included, to not use this incident as an excuse to spread hate toward others," he said. "It will not prevent the next attack or help the victim recover any quicker. It might feel good, but it will only pour gasoline on an already raging fire."‘Wasn’t just another shooting’The Jewish leaders said the attack comes amid rising antisemitism documented by a recent FBI hate crime report that shows Jews make up 2% of the country's population and are targeted in 15% of all hate crimes. Related Antisemitic acts in Illinois and nation at worst levels ever, Anti-Defamation League says Shlomo Soroka, director of government affairs at Agudath Israel Illinois, said he has spoken to the victim of the attack, who he said is an Orthodox Jew. Soroka said Orthodox Jews are the most vulnerable to attacks because they are easily identifiable by their clothes, and since they don't drive on the Sabbath on Saturdays, must live within walking distance of their synagogue.Soroka said the victim in Saturday's attack usually brings his two young daughters to the synagogue but did not that day."Could you imagine what would have happened if those little girls were with them?" Soroka asked.Rabbi Levi Mostofsky, executive director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, said the shooting stands apart from typical gun violence seen across the city."It wasn't just another shooting on the streets of Chicago. When a visibly Jewish individual, in an otherwise placid neighborhood, is shot unprovoked on his way to synagogue, we are terrorized," Mostofsky said. Contributing: Andy Grimm
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