Teen charged over alleged mass shooting plot targeting Hindu place of worship near Aurora, Illinois

Centre · 2Alexandros Paporakis, a 19-year-old from Palatine, Illinois, was arrested on Sunday 11 October and charged over an alleged plan for a mass shooting that investigators believe may have targeted a Hindu place of worship in the Aurora area. 1 2 Centre · 1According to the Palatine Police Department, the investigation began shortly after 3:30 p.m. Sunday, when Mount Prospect police contacted Palatine authorities about electronic communications reported by an individual. 2 Centre · 1Police said Paporakis had shared a document outlining a mass shooting plan, along with photographs of a rifle, magazines, body armor and tactical equipment. 2

Centre · 2Officers from both departments arrested him that evening near his residence in the 1300 block of North Baldwin Court; Hindustan Times, citing a Fox 32 Chicago report of the police report, says he was found at about 3:42 p.m. in a parking lot near his apartment, while BNO News says he was arrested as he left his residence. 2 1 Centre · 2Detectives who searched his home recovered a rifle, multiple loaded magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and tactical equipment, plus a vest with body armor and a patch with imagery associated with white supremacist extremism. Hindustan Times, citing the police report, describes an AR-style rifle without a serial number, eight loaded magazines, one loaded extended magazine, 300 rounds of rifle ammunition, and items with Nazi symbolism such as swastikas. 2 1 Centre · 1Authorities examined a document attributed to him titled “Why I Fought: A.K.A.: (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto).” Police said it expressed white supremacist and extremist ideologies, including references to violence against people of South Asian heritage, particularly Indians. 2

Centre · 1Hindustan Times, citing the Fox 32 report, adds that the eight-page document also targeted Jewish and Black people, described its targets as “subhumans,” detailed how he obtained and modified the rifle and researched the target using YouTube and Google Street View, and said he had planned an attack for two years and focused on the location for two months. 1 Centre · 1Hindustan Times also reports, attributing it to Fox 32, that a co-worker at a Taco Bell in Arlington Heights said he made disparaging remarks about Indians, openly identified as a white supremacist, said he could not wait to kill Indian people and had planned an attack on the largest Hindu temple in Aurora; these accounts are described as reported or alleged. 1 Centre · 1Detectives believe he may have intended to attack that Sunday, potentially at a Hindu place of worship in the Aurora area, but police said the specific intended location has not been confirmed. Aurora authorities contacted Hindu places of worship to warn them of the potential threat. 2

Centre · 2He is charged with making a terrorist threat, a Class X felony, and unlawful possession of a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches, a Class 3 felony. A judge ordered him detained at a hearing on Wednesday at the Cook County courthouse in Rolling Meadows, and he is due back in court on 30 October. 1 2 Centre · 1FBI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Ryan Whalen credited “swift action by the Palatine and Mount Prospect Police Departments” for the suspect being taken into custody without harm to the community. Palatine police are continuing to investigate with the FBI, including reviewing possible additional charges, and have identified no known ongoing threat to the public. 2