Teen accused of plotting mass shooting at Chicago-area Hindu temple

Police in a Chicago suburb announced Wednesday that they had thwarted a potential mass shooting, arresting a 19-year-old man who they said may have planned to target a Hindu place of worship.

Alexandros Paporakis, a Taco Bell cashier from Palatine, Illinois, faces felony charges of making a terrorist threat and unlawfully possessing weapons. Investigators believe he planned to target the largest Hindu temple in Aurora, Illinois, but the exact intended location remains under investigation. It was not immediately clear if Paporakis has legal representation.

The defendant’s co-workers told police they had received concerning digital communications from Paporakis, including a document outlining an alleged plan to carry out a mass shooting and photos of tactical gear. They said Paporakis openly identified as a white supremacist at work and told them he couldn’t wait to kill Indian people, according to prosecutors from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The Mount Prospect and Palatine police departments coordinated to locate and arrest Paporakis while he was leaving his home on Sunday afternoon, the same day detectives believe he may have been planning to carry out an attack, Palatine police said.

He had allegedly told his Taco Bell co-workers that Sunday was going to be “a special day.”

Prosecutors said Paporakis called one coworker earlier in the day Sunday, saying that his gun had jammed and he left “super fast” without being seen.

“The seriousness of this alleged threat cannot be overstated,” Palatine Police Chief William Nord said, adding that protecting places of worship is a law enforcement priority.

Prosecutors allege Paporakis sent the coworker an eight-page document titled, “Why I fought: A.K.A. (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto),” which described Indian, Jewish and African American people as “subhumans” and outlined a plot to kill as many of them as possible, according to a court document obtained by The Associated Press.

In a search of his home, detectives recovered an AR style rifle without a serial number, loaded magazines and ammunition, a gas canister labeled with a slur aimed at South Asians, and a several items depicting Nazi symbolism, police and prosecutors said.

Paporakis allegedly described himself in the manifesto as “a sociopathic white supremacist Neo Nazi filled with hatred, fantasizing about mass murder nearly every day.”

A judge ruled Wednesday that Paporakis will remain in jail pretrial. He is next scheduled to appear in court Oct. 30.

芝加哥郊区警方周三宣布，他们挫败了一起潜在的大规模枪击事件，逮捕了一名 19 岁男子，警方称该男子可能计划以印度教礼拜场所为目标。

来自伊利诺伊州帕拉廷的塔可钟餐厅收银员亚历山德罗斯·帕波拉基斯面临重罪指控，罪名包括制造恐怖威胁和非法持有武器。调查人员认为他计划袭击伊利诺伊州奥罗拉市最大的印度教寺庙，但具体目标地点仍在调查中。目前尚不清楚帕波拉基斯是否已聘请律师。

被告的同事告诉警方，他们收到了帕波拉基斯发来的令人担忧的电子通讯，其中包括一份概述所谓大规模枪击计划的文件和一些战术装备的照片。据库克县州检察官办公室的检察官称，他们表示帕波拉基斯在工作中公开表明自己是白人至上主义者，并告诉他们他迫不及待地想要杀害印第安人。

帕拉廷警方表示，芒特普罗斯佩克特和帕拉廷警察局协调行动，于周日下午帕波拉基斯离开家时将其抓获。侦探们认为，就在同一天，他可能正在计划实施袭击。

据称他曾告诉他在塔可钟的同事们，星期天将是“特别的一天”。

检察官称，帕波拉基斯周日早些时候给一位同事打电话，说他的枪卡壳了，然后他“飞快”地离开了，没有被人看到。

“这一所谓威胁的严重性怎么强调都不为过，”帕拉廷警察局长威廉·诺德说，并补充说，保护宗教场所是执法部门的首要任务。

据美联社获得的一份法庭文件显示，检方指控帕波拉基斯向同事发送了一份题为“我为何而战：又名（奥罗拉枪击案凶手宣言）”的八页文件，该文件将印度人、犹太人和非裔美国人描述为“次等人”，并概述了一个尽可能多地杀害他们的阴谋。

警方和检察官表示，在搜查他的住所时，侦探们找到了一支没有序列号的 AR 式步枪、装满子弹的弹匣和弹药、一个贴有针对南亚人的侮辱性标签的煤气罐，以及一些描绘纳粹标志的物品。

据称，帕波拉基斯在宣言中将自己描述为“一个充满仇恨的反社会白人至上主义新纳粹分子，几乎每天都在幻想大规模谋杀”。

法官周三裁定，帕波拉基斯在审前将继续被关押。他下次出庭日期定于10月30日。