A terrorist who allegedly shot a Jewish man as he walked to a Chicago synagogue has been found dead in his prison cell.
Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, a migrant from Mauritania, was found unconscious in his cell on Saturday afternoon in “an apparent suicide attempt by hanging.” The Chicago Sun-Times reports this.
Cook County sheriff’s officials said jail staff were conducting a routine security check at the jail’s medical facility — where Abdallahi has been held since he was seriously injured in a shootout with police — around 3:30 p.m. when they spotted him in the cell.
Staffers initiated life-saving measures and first responders took Abdallahi to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. according to the Chicago Tribune.
Authorities say there is no evidence of foul play, but the cause and manner of his death will be determined by an autopsy conducted by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force will also conduct an independent investigation as per protocol.
Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, a migrant from Mauritania, was found unconscious in ‘an apparent suicide attempt by hanging’ in his cell on Saturday afternoon
Abdallahi was arrested on October 26 after allegedly shooting a 39-year-old Orthodox Jewish man wearing traditional dress.
The victim walked to a local synagogue and police say Abdallahi approached him from behind.
Neighbors then rushed to help the injured man as police and paramedics rushed to the scene. As officers then searched for the shooter, they said, Abdallahi emerged from an alley and began shooting at police, hitting a Chicago Fire Department ambulance.
He reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he shot at the officers, who then returned fire, shooting the suspect multiple times. No officers were injured in the exchange.
Footage later showed the 22-year-old being wheeled away from the scene in a stretcher after being shot multiple times. He was hospitalized in the aftermath and transferred to the prison’s medical facility on November 15.
The victim was admitted to hospital but was later released.
He was accused of shooting a Jewish man in traditional clothing on his way to the synagogue on October 26
Abdallahi got into a shootout with the police and was seriously injured
A subsequent investigation found that Abdallahi’s phone contained evidence that “indicated that he planned the shooting and specifically targeted people of Jewish faith,” Chicago Police Chief Larry Snelling said.
Prosecutors also alleged that Abdallahi had mapped the locations of several synagogues and Jewish day schools in Chicago in the days leading up to the attack.
The attack then took place in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, home to the highest concentration of Jewish citizens in the city.
“This was nothing more than a planned attack… an attempted murder of these people,” Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers said during a Nov. 22 hearing. reports the Sun-Times.
“This was a calculated plan on the public street, and an attempt to massacre that individual and law enforcement officers.
She added that his phone also contained more than a hundred “anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas” photos and videos.
Police said Abdallahi’s phone contained evidence that “indicated he planned the shooting and specifically targeted people of Jewish faith.”
It was also determined that Abdallahi was an illegal immigrant who arrived from West Africa in March 2023.
He crossed the southern border illegally last year, but authorities found no criminal or terrorist ties at the time, sources told the New York Post.
Abdallahi told officers he was going to live with a friend in Indiana, and although he initially said he was not afraid of being sent back to Mauritania, he later applied for asylum, the newspaper said.
During the Nov. 22 hearing, Assistant District Attorney Josh Thigpen noted that Abdallahi had lived in the U.S. for “at least two years” and worked at an Amazon warehouse.
Still, Judge Susana Ortiz ordered him held.