Full press conference: Police detail alleged Illinois Hindu temple shooting plot

[0:00] uh we appreciate everybody's attendance here this morning uh as you know on sunday october 11 2026 [0:07] the palatine police department working in coordination with mount prospect police [0:11] department arrested a 19 year old palatine man following an investigation into an alleged mass [0:17] shooting giving the seriousness of this case and the significant public interest it's garnered [0:23] we wanted to provide an opportunity for our law enforcement representatives to address [0:26] the investigation and answer any questions regarding information that can be released at this [0:33] time appropriately before we begin i'd like to take a moment to introduce everybody behind me that [0:40] is representing their individual agencies and so i'm going to go from left to right here standing [0:47] the far left is chief michael eterno from mount prospect police department we've got commander [0:55] josh hester from palatine police department he's our investigations commander uh to my immediate [1:01] right here is uh chief william nord uh with the palatine police department and then we've got [1:07] uh to my far right here fbi acting special agent in charge of the chicago field office lucas rothar [1:16] we appreciate the cooperation and partnership of all the agencies involved in this investigation [1:21] and in just a moment i'm going to have chief nord provide some remarks regarding the updates on [1:25] the investigation what was provided yesterday in our news release our initial news release uh following [1:31] his remarks uh we'll have uh the uh acting special agent in charge uh lucas rothar's come up and uh [1:38] give some comments as well and then we'll open up the floor for a brief question and answer session [1:45] i do want to emphasize though that this remains an active and ongoing investigation so please keep that in [1:51] mind uh as we open up the floor for questions uh we will try to address as many as we can here but we [1:58] do have some limited availability and then um given that the fact that this is open in uh investigation [2:06] uh we'd like to keep this to anything that's clarifying what we released yesterday in our news uh news [2:13] release or anything that's discussed here by any of the speakers um this morning okay uh we appreciate your [2:20] understanding with that and at this point i'm going to turn it over to uh palatine police chief william [2:26] nord chief good morning everyone thank you for being here today uh as outlined in our news release [2:33] on sunday october 11th the palatine police department was notified by the mount prospect police department [2:38] of information concerning a potential mass shooting the information originated from an individual who [2:43] received concerning electronic communications from a 19 year old palatine resident identified as alexandros [2:50] paparakis recognizing the seriousness of the reported threat officers from both departments immediately [2:57] coordinated their response resulting in the offender being taken into custody that evening the [3:03] subsequent investigation which included the execution of a search warrant at the offender's [3:07] residence resulted in the recovery of a rifle loaded rifle magazines hundreds hundreds of rounds of [3:13] rifle ammunition body armor and other tactical equipment as the investigation progressed detectives [3:20] identified information suggesting that the offender may have been planning an attack on october 11th [3:26] potentially targeting a hindu place of worship in the aurora area as part of our continued investigation [3:33] through coordination with the aurora police department last night and this morning investigators [3:37] were positive were able to positively identify the offenders red acura rdx registered to the offender [3:44] entering the parking lot of a known hindu temple in the aurora community he entered the parking lot [3:51] at approximately 12 25 pm exited the parking lot at approximately 12 38 pm the offender's vehicle [3:58] then was captured uh returning to palatine it was observed returning to palatine uh shortly before 2 pm [4:05] along ran road near the res near the offender's residence at that time it appeared that the offender [4:12] was driving the vehicle and he was alone in the vehicle the offender has since been charged with making [4:19] a terrorist threat a class x felony and weapons and a weapons related felony he appeared in court yesterday [4:26] and what the judge ordered him to be detained based on the information developed during the [4:30] investigation we have not identified any known ongoing threats associated with the public and [4:38] associated with this incident i want to emphasize that the seriousness of this alleged threat cannot be [4:45] overstated the immediate sharing of information and coordinated response by the palatine and mount [4:51] prospect police departments were instrumental in identifying and taking this individual into [4:55] custody i also want to recognize the individual who initially came forward with this information [5:01] and contacted the mount prospect police department their willingness to report these communications [5:06] played a vital role in bringing this matter to the attention of law enforcement we are grateful for [5:12] the assistance of the fbi chicago field office which has been working closely with our detectives [5:17] as the investigation continues speaking on behalf of chief mike eterno protecting our communities and [5:23] places of worship remains a priority for both the palatine and mount prospect police departments [5:29] we will continue with our law enforcement we we will continue working with our law enforcement partners [5:34] as this investigations moves forward at this time i'd like to turn it over to the acting special agent in [5:41] charge of the fbi chicago field office lucas rothar and thank you good morning first and foremost i want to [6:04] thank the brave men and women of the palatine police department and the mount prospect police department [6:10] their unwavering commitment to keep our communities safe cannot be emphasized enough and their swift [6:17] actions on sunday in this incident ensured that our communities did not face any harm the fbi's [6:24] investigative and intelligence personnel collaborate each and every day with their local state and federal [6:29] partners across all law enforcement and all of our shared commitment to identify investigate and [6:36] disrupt any threats of violence driven by radical ideologies for the communities that are affected [6:43] by this news that they're hearing especially those in our communities of the indian and hindu [6:49] communities i want to let you know that the fbi is fully committed to providing any support we can [6:55] to the palatine police department and the prosecutors in this case our special agents and task force officers [7:02] have been coordinating with chief north's department since the incident had arisen on sunday [7:07] and the chief and the community have the full access to the fbi's arsenal investigative resources [7:13] the fbi has zero tolerance for any acts of violence or threats made against the public driven by those [7:20] attempting to impose their hateful ideologies and trying to oppress or silence those who are living [7:26] peacefully in our country and expressing their first amendment rights as highlighted by chief nord the [7:33] public remains law enforcement's greatest asset in disrupting acts of violence i want to praise [7:38] and offer my personal sincerest thanks to the individual who stepped forward in many successful [7:45] disruptions by law enforcement in potential acts of violence or terrorism attacks it is a single [7:51] courageous member of the public who comes forward to prevent attacks i encourage all in the community [7:59] if you see something suspicious threatening or out of the ordinary please come forward in this instance [8:04] on sunday i want to thank that individual for their bravery so for the all those that are listening in the [8:11] public i implore you follow in the footsteps of this brave individual immediately report any threats [8:17] or acts of violence let authorities do our jobs as dedicated investigators to determine the credibility [8:24] and the next path forward the public can report any such threats to any law enforcement agency whether [8:30] it's the local police department their county sheriff's office the illinois state police or the fbi [8:37] we as a law enforcement enforcement community we engage each and every day to determine to determine [8:42] the best path forward if there is an emergency members of the public should immediately call 911 [8:48] if they have other information they'd like to contact the fbi we can be reached at 1-800 call fbi [8:54] or folks can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov all trip tips can be treated anonymously finally the fbi [9:05] remains committed to supporting great law enforcement partners like chief nord and chief eterno and stands [9:12] with all those across the nation who work tirelessly to prevent terrorist attacks and acts of violence [9:18] thank you okay um again at this time we're going to open up the floor uh for about 10 minutes worth of [9:33] questions uh our pio officer nick hyred standing to my right is going to help me moderate this so nick's [9:40] going to recognize you if you have a question uh nick will be the person uh that recognizes you please [9:46] state your agency your name and who your question is for just to uh remind everybody up here we have [9:52] chief michael eternal from mount prospect police department we have commander josh hester investigations [9:59] commander for palatine police department we have chief william nord from the palatine police department [10:06] and acting special agent in charge uh lucas rothar from the fbi and again deputy chief dave brandwein [10:13] with palatine police um so with that nick please start one more question before we or more comment [10:20] before we begin i'm going to ask just to reiterate this uh we'd like to keep the question specific to [10:26] anything that was released yesterday in our initial uh statement or anything that was uh already any [10:33] clarifying questions you may have about anything that was said here this morning so thank you for [10:37] that appreciate it chief i'm gonna let you take that so our investigation uh has revealed that uh and [10:58] confirmed as of right now that he has been alone in this planning uh he did reveal some some details in [11:04] the manifesto that he's been planning this for some time um we we are still trying to determine why the [11:10] october 11th date was significant for him um we're still working on that our investigators and the fbi [11:15] we're still looking into all that information uh the manifesto itself uh self-described eight page [11:20] manifesto that contained uh words and and photos and uh self-described aurora shooters manifesto [11:28] uh beyond that with the content of the manifesto with the ongoing investigation maintain that integrity [11:32] we're not going to comment anymore about some of the content in the manifesto that's our that has [11:36] been already released so we're still we are still working on that i'm trying to determine that some [11:48] of the information that was uh identified in his manifesto uh provided some details that we still [11:54] have to follow up on and confirm so we're obviously to with the maintain the integrity [12:14] investigation we're still looking into that uh that is going off of the statement that that was [12:18] communicated to his his associate um and a video that uh that he played that possibly showed the gun [12:26] jamming we are still trying to determine where exactly that was the video was taken we don't know [12:32] if it was in a parking lot or if it was at a residence or in the car so we're still working [12:36] on that that's still under investigation i can't cannot confirm if the gun jammed or not [12:47] yeah the fbi is uh continuing to work with our local partners we are in communication with the [13:03] northern district of illinois the u.s attorney's office who is in communication with the state's [13:07] attorney's office so as we do in all cases uh the law enforcement agencies and the prosecutors will [13:12] examine all avenues uh and determine the best path forward but it continues to be a matter [13:18] ongoing just a reminder if you could please uh in addition to your name and your agency just state [13:23] who the question is for so we can have the appropriate speaker step up just based on the [13:44] timeline that that you guys told us about this is a conversation that's been a couple of days [13:50] um is there maybe a broader message here for that co-worker for anyone who might have these tips to [13:56] come forward sooner and i guess you know to be totally blunt i guess my question is [14:00] why was it until sunday um that the co-worker reported it is that something you guys are also [14:06] looking into let me answer this so again i'll reiterate what was already said with that uh we [14:12] commend them for coming forward when they did uh as far as the timeline goes uh you know that's [14:18] something still that uh we're looking at but the main focus here with uh the individual who came forward [14:23] is that we commend them and you know a message to the public if you see something say something uh you [14:30] know if not for this individual um you know we might be talking about something completely different [14:35] here so looking through the the the eight page manifesto um there's nothing that identifies exactly [14:55] what has radicalized him um we have no he's been living in palatine uh with his mother for [15:01] approximately a year we have no contacts with him so we are still looking into all that um i'm not [15:10] sure of any criminal history yes it sounds like i'm lucky i think we were very fortunate that that [15:40] uh something much much worse did not happen um i think and i'm going to say that uh during the [15:48] investigation uh what prompted the necessity of the the necessity to contact mount prospect police [15:53] department i think is the communications that were given that day so if you know as you said if the [15:59] conversation took took place over a couple days i think the information that was presented to that [16:04] individual on that day necessitated an immediate response and he contacted the mount prospect police [16:09] department yes yeah uh the mother has been uh questioned is not cooperating with the investigation [16:21] at this time is not he has not based on the information that was given to us um and based on [16:53] the the communications what our investigation revealed was specifically he was looking for a large [16:58] uh hindu temple that was it um out of respect uh no i do not know uh how he received this information [17:21] um and uh what we're going to keep it as is it's a known hindu temple in the aurora community no steve we've had [17:43] no prior contacts with him for anyone who could answer but aside of the manifesto and what the [17:52] co-workers told you did you guys find any concerning social media posts reddit posts or any forms that [17:56] he may have been part of so as part of the as part of the search warrant um they were electronic [18:02] communication devices and that were recovered from the residents and those are currently being examined at [18:07] the fbi chicago uh regional computer forensic laboratory so we are expecting some information to [18:12] come through on that as part of the investigation and are there any repercussions for the mom not [18:16] cooperating in this investigation none known at this time investigation like this really is [18:36] obviously typical police investigation this is something that you guys are still investigating [18:40] you've heard you know nationwide about these increased rhetoric hate bill messages languages [18:47] can you talk about that here locally and how an investigation like this is maybe a little [18:52] bit more intense and requires a look a little bit more digging and you know research into everything [18:59] just trying to get a feel of how these investigations yeah and i don't know if i would characterize it as [19:04] more in depth because of this i think the police department's investigations and the fbi's investigations [19:10] they complement complement each other in a multitude of ways uh in this case uh we're pushing forward [19:18] uh with all available resources from the fbi and with the palatine police department as well um and just [19:24] to touch on the comment earlier as far as the the brave person who came forward uh it is why we [19:28] encourage this was one person who came forward uh there's opportunities for others to come forward [19:34] it's not just one person who sees something if someone sees something earlier we get thousands of [19:39] tips each and every year the fbi over 100 000 tips the chicago field office thousands of tips [19:44] those individuals we assess we investigate uh many we we either disrupt we charge or we determine [19:51] that there's not a threat i encourage the public to let law enforcement do the job of making that [19:56] assessment and not trying to make a determination is now the time to call not not the time to call [20:02] in these cases we treat people with their constitutional rights we respect their privacy [20:07] uh and our job is to protect the public so the sooner we get that information the sooner we can do [20:12] that job i don't have any more information on anyone living there uh what i do know is what the [20:33] investigation revealed is that it was the mom and our offender that were living at that residence [20:38] we're going to take one more this is going to be the last question uh then i'll make a closing statement [20:42] uh but we'll take one more question here reaction to seeing that um it corroborated kind of his [21:12] statements that he made to his um associate that was the uh good samaritan so that uh corroborated [21:17] the information that he provided okay with that uh folks we're going to make some concluding remarks [21:25] here that's going to be the end of the q a um just a couple other things to wrap up um before we [21:32] uh wrap up here for the day but on behalf of chief nord and the paletime police department i want to [21:36] thank our law enforcement partners for the continued cooperation and assistance throughout this [21:42] investigation we also appreciate your attention uh the media's and the continued coverage of the case [21:47] so thank you very much as this investigation progresses we will provide additional updates [21:54] when information becomes available for release i also want to provide our tip line so this will be [21:59] important for uh the public that's watching here today um both a phone and an email address that the [22:05] public can utilize for this case uh so these are both related to the paletime police department the email [22:11] address and i'm going to say it and then i'm going to spell it out crime tips at palatine dot il dot us so [22:19] it's going to be c r i m e t i p s at palatine dot il dot us anything related to this case that the public that [22:33] may be watching right now has on this please feel free to email that if you prefer a phone call i'm [22:39] going to give you a tip line as well the phone number for that again this is directly to the palatine police [22:44] department tip line eight four seven nine six three six four nine nine so to repeat eight four seven [22:53] nine six three six four nine nine anything else uh that the media has if you have any additional [23:01] questions following today's press conference uh officer hiritz and i will be available uh he should have [23:07] left some cards there for you you should also have uh some sheets that were handed out earlier that have [23:12] all the list of the names and uh agencies as well as positions of any of the speakers here this afternoon [23:18] or this morning so again thank you for your uh time here this morning and we appreciate it