Car registered to man accused of planning mass shooting was at Hindu
temple he targeted, police say
[October 16, 2026]
By CYBELE MAYES-OSTERMAN
CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois authorities believe a 19-year-old man charged
with planning a mass shooting at a Hindu temple in suburban Chicago
entered the building’s parking lot on Sunday, hours before police
arrested him near his home after receiving a tip about the alleged
attack plan.
Authorities announced Wednesday that they had arrested Alexandros
Paporakis and provided the additional detail about his suspected
movement during a news conference Thursday. The leaders of Sri
Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in a statement said a security threat
had “targeted our Temple” and announced an increased security presence.
Palatine Police Chief William Nord said a red Acura RDX registered to
Paporakis entered a temple parking lot on Sunday around 12:25 p.m. and
left less than 15 minutes later. He was seen alone inside the car around
2 p.m. near his home in another suburb.
Paporakis faces felony charges of making a terrorist threat and
unlawfully possessing a rifle. Prosecutors have said his co-workers at a
Taco Bell location called 911 after Paporakis told them he “couldn't
wait to kill Indian people” and said Sunday would be the “special day.”
Temple adds security after threat
Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, around 40 miles west
of downtown Chicago, said leaders were in contact with police.
“Please know that the safety of our devotees, employees and volunteers
is our highest priority, and we have implemented additional security
measures effective immediately, including increased armed security
presence at the Temple,” a statement said.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who represents Illinois' 8th congressional
district, said he was at the Hindu temple on Sunday.
“I visited not knowing that there was an attacker lying in wait with a
sinister motive to commit a mass shooting, and only because his AR-15
weapon jammed was he not able to commit a massacre that day,"
Krishnamoorthi told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Krishnamoorthi said he had increased his security in response to the
alleged planned attack. He called on the FBI to “investigate and
prosecute this particular matter as a hate crime,” and the Trump
administration to release federal nonprofit security grants to bolster
security at religious institutions.
“People are really shaken up,” he added.
Aurora Mayor John Laesch said at a Thursday news conference at the
Council on American Islamic Relations' Chicago office that police were
“made aware” of other scheduled celebrations and are reaching out to
other temples in the area “to make sure that they know they have a
number to call.”
Court records detail the accused attacker's words
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, they added.
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A security vehicle is parked outside of Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji)
Temple in Aurora, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura
Bargfeld)
Paporakis also sent the coworker an eight-page document in which he
used racial slurs to describe non-white people and outlined a plot
to kill as many of them as possible, according to prosecutors. He
also described himself as a white supremacist and a neo Nazi who
fantasized about mass murder.
Police arrested Paporakis later that day near his home in Palatine,
which is located about 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) northeast of the
temple. Detectives who searched his home found an AR-style rifle
without a serial number, loaded magazines and “hundreds of rounds”
of ammunition, a gas canister labeled with a slur referring to South
Asians, a tactical vest and a patch depicting Nazi symbolism,
authorities say.
Paporakis' mother was questioned, but she is not cooperating with
the investigation, police said on Thursday.
At a Wednesday court appearance, a judge ordered Paporakis to remain
in detention. His next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30.
“This case is in the earliest stage of what will likely be a lengthy
process,” the office of the Cook County Public Defender, which is
representing Paporakis, said in a statement emailed to the AP. "We
would remind the public that statements made by police and
prosecutors are only allegations and that cases can change
significantly as they continue to be investigated.”
The targeting of the Hindu temple is another example of heightened
threats in the last few years against South Asians in the U.S.,
according to Stop AAPI Hate, the national reporting center for
anti-Asian hate incidents. Online slurs and threats have risen
significantly, co-founder Manjusha Kulkarni said in a statement.
“We are grateful this violent plot was thwarted and that no one was
hurt -– but it doesn’t erase the fear Hindu, Indian, and South Asian
people feel after years of escalating hate,” Kulkarni said.
“Violence against South Asian people is not inevitable. It is fueled
when leaders stoke fear of immigrants and people of color for
political gain.”
She attributed some of the anti-South Asian sentiment to the Trump
administration’s rhetoric around Indian immigrants who hold work
visas. She also pointed to a Texas Republican last month posting a
social media video of South Asian students cheering at a University
of Texas football game and referring to them as “foreigners.”
The temple, like other Hindu temples and households around the
country, has been celebrating Navratri, a Hindu festival that lasts
nine days. It “should be a time for celebration and unity, not
terror and hate,” Kulkarni said.
___
Associated Press writer Terry Tang in Phoenix contributed to this
report.
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