US teen held in mass shooting plot at Hindu temple carried 300 rounds of ammunition, swastikas
Illinois Hindu temple plot was foiled after a teen armed with a rifle and body armor was thwarted by a malfunctioning weapon
An Illinois teenager was arrested and held without bond after his plot to commit a mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Aurora was thwarted by a malfunctioning rifle, with coworkers alerting authorities after the suspect confessed his white supremacist intentions.
An Illinois teenager was arrested and held without bond after his plot to commit a mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Aurora was thwarted by a malfunctioning rifle, with coworkers alerting authorities after the suspect confessed his white supremacist intentions.
An Illinois teenager was arrested and held without bond after his plot to commit a mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Aurora was thwarted by a malfunctioning rifle, with coworkers alerting authorities after the suspect confessed his white supremacist intentions.
The US teen who planned a mass murder at a Hindu temple in Illinois drove to the religious place in Aurora armed with a modified rifle and about 300 rounds of ammunition. He also had on body armour and other tactical gear, according to reports.
Alexandros Paporakis, of Palatine in Illinois, was arrested on Sunday after allegedly plotting to open fire at Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) temple in Aurora, a suburb of Chicago. However, he couldn’t carry out his plan after his rifle malfunctioned.
He drove all the way to the temple and entered the building’s parking lot on Sunday, around 12:25 p.m. and left less than 15 minutes later. He reached home and searched the internet to find how to unjam his gun before calling a Taco Bell colleague to inform them of his intent to carry out a mass shooting. It was Paporakis' coworkers who alerted the police.
“Paporakis told a coworker on Sunday afternoon that his gun jammed and he left quickly, but promised to “retry,” according to prosecutors. He sent the coworker a video showing an AR-style rifle and a photo of himself wearing a tactical vest.
Investigators say he had a modified AR-style rifle and 300 rounds of ammo, enough to fill ten magazines for reloading, along with body armour, gasoline cans and an assortment of swastikas.
Earlier, there were reports about the eight-page document Paporakis sent to his coworker in which he used racial slurs to describe non-white people and outlined a plot to kill as many of them as possible. He also described himself as a white supremacist and a neo Nazi who fantasised about mass murder.
“The writings expressed words of hate, violence, a superior race and mass shooting of Indian people. [Paporakis'] hatred was against Jewish people, African-Americans, Indians, and 'non-white' people," according to police. Paporakis described them as "subhumans" and planned to kill as many of them as possible.
Paporakis' mother was questioned, but she is not cooperating with the investigation, police said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a Cook County judge has ordered Paporakis held without bond and has put a jailhouse healthcare order into place. He is receiving hormone injections for gender transition and is being treated for ADHD, depression and anxiety, according to NBC Chicago.