CHICAGO — Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, the man accused of attacking a Jewish man, Chicago police officers and paramedics in a shooting in West Rogers Park five weeks ago, was found dead Saturday in the Cook County Jail. Officials said his death appeared to be a suicide by hanging.
An autopsy was performed Sunday, but results are still pending, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Abdallahi, 22, was seriously injured by Chicago police officers who shot him as he continued his rampage mid-morning on October 26. A spokesman for the sheriff’s office said Sunday that Abdallah had been housed at Cermak Health Services, the jail’s medical facility, since Nov. 15. by a division of Cook County Health.
Sheriff’s office staff conducting routine security checks at Cermak “found Abdallah unresponsive due to an apparent suicide attempt by hanging in his cell around 3:30 p.m. Saturday,” the spokesperson said. “Personnel immediately initiated life-saving measures and Abdallah was transported by Chicago Fire Department ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was subsequently pronounced deceased.”
The spokesperson said there are “no indications of foul play at this time.”
In announcing the charges, prosecutors said Abdallah’s phone records showed he spent days selecting targets, including a synagogue not far from where he shot a 39-year-old Jewish man who was walking to the synagogue. After shooting the man in the 2600 block of West Farwell, Abdallahi reportedly got into his car and drove a short distance, only to return to the area about 20 minutes later and begin shooting at police and paramedics.
For more than two minutes, Abdallahi showed up at several locations to exchange gunfire with Chicago police, officials alleged. He was eventually taken down by police gunfire in the 6800 block of North Washtenaw. (Video here. Discretion advised.)
Prosecutors did not initially charge him with a hate crime, but those counts were added within days after investigators cracked his phone and reportedly discovered that its history included searches of gun caches, shooting ranges, synagogues and Jewish community centers in the days leading up to the murder. to shoot.
Abdallahi “sought out this specific community. I sought this specific belief,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said at the time.
Officials said Abdallahi, from the West African country of Mauritania, crossed paths with U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Ysidro, California, in March 2023.
The sheriff’s office spokesman said the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force has been asked to conduct an independent investigation into his death.
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