Chicago authorities said an illegal immigrant who was charged with hate crimes after shooting a Jewish man hanged himself inside his jail cell over the weekend.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said deputies found Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, unresponsive while they were doing routine security checks. He was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead.
The sheriff’s office said there was no known suicide risk for Abdallahi, but they also don’t believe there was any foul play in his death.
Abdallahi, who was originally from Mauritania before he entered the U.S. illegally, was facing 16 charges related to the October shooting of an Orthodox Jewish man as the victim walked to a nearby synagogue.
The kippah-wearing victim was wounded in the shoulder but escaped the shooting without any life-threatening injuries, police said.
Police said the suspect shot at first responders who arrived to aid the victim. Officers returned fire and critically wounded Abdallahi shortly afterward.
Investigators said at the time that they believed Abdallahi specifically took aim at the Jewish victim because of his antisemitism.
Police said the assailant shot the victim without saying a word, but home surveillance video of the shooting appeared to capture the suspect shouting “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire on the man in the West Rogers Park neighborhood.
He was facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm at a peace officer or fireman, terrorism and hate crimes before his death Saturday.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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