Car registered to man accused of planning mass shooting was at Hindu temple he targeted, police say

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.”

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.”

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.

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.

Mayes-Osterman is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

A statue and fountain are displaued outside of Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

The top of Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple is seen in Aurora, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

The front of Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple is seen in Aurora, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

A security vehicle is parked outside of Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal authorities are investigating letters with “suspicious substances” that have been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide and are urging recipients to treat the mailings as “potentially hazardous.”

The investigation by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police was first disclosed in a message from the Senate Sergeant at Arms obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The notice, sent to Senate offices, said that law enforcement officials were working to intercept any additional letters, but “it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations.”

In Congress, the threat appeared limited to the Senate, though the House was monitoring the situation, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.

An FBI statement said the bureau and the Postal Inspection Service were "investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices.”

"Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident," the statement read. "We are also working with our partners to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters."

Mailed packages containing a powdery substance led to the evacuation this week of election offices in at least two states, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The Ohio secretary of state said the Postal Service intercepted a package containing a white powder intended for its office and noted that similar mailings had been sent to election officials in multiple states. Numerous states, from Idaho to Florida, said their election offices either received letters or had them intercepted by the Postal Service.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission said in a statement that it received a letter and the white powder enclosed in it as not hazardous, according to tests. "Let this be very clear: this incident will not shake us,” Wisconsin elections administrator Meagan Wolfe said.

News of the letters comes just three weeks before Election Day and is reminiscent of a similar threat in 2023, when election offices in six states received mailings that contained a white powder. In some cases, the incidents disrupted work around local elections.

Some of those letters contained threats and traces of the powerful opioid fentanyl, leading some election offices to stock up on the overdose reversal medication naloxone.

The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors issued a joint statement condemning what they said were threats against election staff.

“Those who administer our elections should never fear for their safety while carrying out their essential duties,” they said in their statement.

Deputy Postal Inspector Brendan Donahue told reporters Thursday that “any threat or attack on election officials is unacceptable” and that “we are also working with our partners on identifying the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.”

Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia; and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.

The U.S. Capitol is seen Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

FILE - An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)