Palatine teen arrested in alleged mass shooting plot that may have targeted Aurora Hindu temple

A 19-year-old Palatine man was arrested following an investigation into threats involving a possible mass shooting that may have targeted a Hindu temple.

Palatine police said Sunday afternoon they were contacted by Mount Prospect police, who said they were informed of a possible mass shooting by someone who had received “electronic communications regarding” Alexandros Paporakis of Palatine.

Paporakis was arrested outside his home in the 1300 block of North Baldwin Court Sunday evening by Palatine and Mount Prospect police.

While searching his home, police said they found a rifle, several loaded rifle magazines, hundreds of additional rounds of ammunition, tactical equipment, a tactical vest containing body armor and a patch with imagery associated with white supremacist extremism.

“They recovered a rifle, they recovered loaded magazines, hundreds of rifle rounds as well as a bulletproof vest,” Palatine Police Chief William Nord said.

With the help of the FBI, police said they were able to examine Paporakis’ electronic devices and electronic communications, and said they found a manifesto in which he identified himself as a white supremacist and wrote about his hatred of non-white people, including Jews, African-Americans, Indians and other non-white people.

“In reading the manifesto, he actually stated some extremist ideologies and talked about violence, he talked about massacres and how he wanted to carry out this mass shooting,” Nord said.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Paporakis with one count of making a terroristic threat and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon for possessing a rifle with a barrel less than 16 inches long, both felonies.

In court Wednesday, prosecutors said Paporakis’ co-worker told police he openly talked about being a white supremacist at his job at Taco Bell, making derogatory comments about people of other races. The colleague also told police that he had discussed the Nazis and the armed struggle, and that he had expressed particular hatred towards Indians.

Prosecutors said Saturday that Paporakis told a co-worker he was planning “this” at Aurora’s largest Hindu temple, then told another co-worker that Sunday “was going to be a special day.”

Prosecutors said Sunday afternoon that Paporakis texted his co-worker and asked her to call him. When he did, prosecutors said Paporakis told his co-worker that his gun was jammed and “that he got out of there ‘super fast.'” After the call, he sent the co-worker messages on Signal showing an AR-style rifle, showing how the gun did not fire when he pulled the trigger, and a photo of himself in a tactical vest, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors also said that during that conversation, he sent the co-worker a copy of his eight-page manifesto He also told them he planned to carry out the attack later.

After speaking on the phone, that co-worker and another co-worker called 911 to report the incident, prosecutors said.

Palatine police said the precise location of Paporakis’ alleged threats had not been confirmed and an investigation into the matter remained open. Aurora police were notified of the threat, and subsequently coordinated outreach to Hindu places of worship in the area to raise awareness. The FBI also participated in the investigation.

Court documents say Paporakis suffered from mental and emotional health issues and was not receiving prescribed medications. A judge ordered Paporakis detained pending trial.