Officials say hate crime charges are needed after an Orthodox Jewish man was shot and killed on his way to synagogue

WEST RIDGE — The man accused of shooting an Orthodox Jew on his way to synagogue was arrested at a hearing Tuesday as West Ridge and Jewish community officials seek hate crime charges in the case.

Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, is charged with six counts of attempted murder in connection with the Saturday morning shooting in the 2600 block of West Farwell Avenue, which ended with Abdallahi being injured in a shootout with police, Supt. Larry Snelling said at a press conference on Monday.

Abdallahi allegedly shot the 39-year-old in the shoulder after approaching him “without saying a word,” Snelling said. The victim is an Orthodox Jew and, on the way to the synagogue, wore clothing that made him “identifiable as a Jewish person,” including a yarmulke, Ald. said Debra Silverstein (50th).

As police and paramedics arrived on scene, Abdallahi shot at them from “various locations” while shouting something that police officials said Monday they could not call into evidence at this time. An ambulance was hit by gunfire – and police returned shots during a lengthy gun battle, with Abdallahi hit “multiple times,” Snelling said.

Abdallahi, who lives on the Far South Side, is in the intensive care unit at a local hospital, public defenders said at a detention hearing Tuesday. The presiding judge ordered Abdallahi's detention after his release from the hospital.

Abdallahi also faces seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and one count of grievous bodily harm. His next court date is expected to be November 7th. He doesn't appear to have a criminal record.

Silverstein spoke to the victim, who was “doing well and his spirits were good” while he was “going back and forth to doctors,” she said. The councilwoman attended the same synagogue as the victim, she said.

Prominent Jewish officials, including Silverstein, are pushing to charge Abdallahi with hate crimes.

Silverstein would have liked to see hate crime charges filed “yesterday,” she said. West Ridge, on the far north side, is home to the city's largest Orthodox Jewish community, Silverstein said.

“The charges filed against the suspect are a good start,” said a statement from the Midwest chapter of the Anti-Defamation League. “Saturday’s crime feels like a hate crime, regardless of where the investigation lands. Chicago’s Jewish community was shaken.”

“We’re all very concerned,” Silverstein said in an interview. “Everyone is pretty shaken and we were disappointed that there were no further hate crime charges. I want to let people do their work and get more information.”

Officials from the Orthodox Jewish community gathered at a news conference Tuesday to press hate crime charges. They said the West Ridge shooting seemed different from typical cases of gun violence in Chicago. The community was “terrorized” by the attack and subsequent police shooting, Rabbi Levi Mostofsky, executive director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, said at the news conference, according to the Sun-Times.

Investigators are “continuing to determine the motive” of the shooter but have not yet been able to interview him as he recovers in the hospital, Snelling said Monday.

The West Ridge shooting comes amid a rise in anti-Semitic incidents locally and nationally.

According to the Associated Press, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes have increased since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people. According to Israeli authorities, Hamas kidnapped about 240 people in the attack and more than 60 hostages are believed to remain captive. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli war effort.

In 2023, police reported 302 hate crimes, a 47 percent increase from 2022.

In July, the City Council passed an ordinance that would impose hefty fines on people caught engaging in hate speech after a series of hate speech incidents on the North Side.

These included anti-Semitic graffiti found at Nettlehorst School in Lakeview; over 80 plastic bags containing anti-Semitic leaflets and an unknown substance found in Lincoln Park; and dozens of anti-Semitic signs outside the homes of residents with Jewish names in Lincoln Park.

Last October, following the Hamas attack, a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to death by his landlord in his suburban Chicago home in what police described as a hate crime, according to CNN.

On Friday, Nabala Café, a Palestinian cafe in Uptown, had its window smashed with a Palestinian flag for the second time since September, prompting neighbors to raise over $18,000 to support the business.

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