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A duo of Taco Bell employees played an important role in thwarting an alleged mass shooting plot targeting a Hindu temple in the western suburbs, prosecutors said.
It’s thanks to a 911 call from two co-workers of Alexandros Paporakis, a 19-year-old from Palatine, that authorities were able to obtain a search warrant and arrest the teen before he could follow through with the plot, prosecutors said.
Two unnamed employees of the Taco Bell located at 2410 E. Rand Rd. in Arlington Heights worked alongside Paporakis for several months, prosecutors said. Over that time, Paporakis made “disparaging comments” to his co-workers about people of other races, and in particular people from India. He also allegedly openly identified as a white supremacist at work.
In the week leading up to the weekend of Oct. 10, Paporakis’ rhetoric allegedly intensified, according to prosecutors.
Then, while at work on Oct. 10, Paporakis allegedly told one of the co-workers who ended up calling police that he couldn’t wait to kill Indian people and was planning to use a lot of ammunition against the largest Hindu temple in Aurora. He allegedly told another co-worker that the following day would be a special day.
The next day, around 1:30 p.m., Paporakis allegedly spoke on the phone with one of the co-workers who later contacted authorities and said that his gun jammed and he fled “super fast,” prosecutors said. During the call, Paporakis allegedly also sent his co-worker a video showing how his automatic rifle failed to fire when the trigger was pulled, and a photo of himself wearing a tactical vest.
Paporakis was also allegedly troubleshooting why the gun did not fire on the call so he could re-try his plan and sent his co-worker a copy of an eight-page document titled “Why I fought: A.K.A. (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto)” that was allegedly full of derogatory language and described his hate for non-white people. It also allegedly included details on how Paporakis studied the temple on Google Streetview and YouTube and how he planned the attack for two years.
After the phone call, the co-worker he spoke with and another co-worker called 911.
A little over two hours after the co-worker’s phone call with Paporakis took place, Palatine police located the 19-year-old in a parking lot near his apartment. A search warrant was executed of his unit, during which a bag containing an automatic rifle without a serial number, a tactical vest, eight loaded magazines, one loaded extended magazine, 300 round of rifle ammunition, a gas can and various items depicting Nazi symbolism and racist language were found.
After the tip, police said they identified a red Acura registered to Paporakis. Surveillance video showed the suspect in the car, entering the parking lot at the Hindu temple at 12:25 p.m. and then exiting three minutes later.
Paporakis was then observed driving to his residence in Palatine, near Rand Road, where he lived with his mother, police said.
Authorities also later located the alleged manifesto.
“The public remains law enforcement’s greatest asset in disrupting acts of violence,” FBI Chicago Field Office acting special agent in charge Lucas Rothaar said during a news conference earlier this month. “I want to praise and offer my personal, sincerest thanks to the individual who stepped forward in many successful disruptions by law enforcement and potential acts of violence or terrorism attacks. It is a single, courageous member of the public who comes forward to prevent attacks.”
Paporakis’ indictment is set for Nov. 9.
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