A 71-year-old homeowner killed a 6-year-old boy and injured his mother because of his Muslim faith and in response to the war between Israel and Hamas, police say.
Will County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call in Plainfield Township, Illinois, on Saturday morning and found suspect Joseph Czuba sitting in front of a home near South Lincoln Highway and Lily Cache Road.
Czuba was bloodied from a cut on his forehead, and inside the house, police discovered the body of little Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently celebrated his sixth birthday.
The boy suffered 26 stab wounds with a large military-style knife, according to the autopsy, while his mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, survived more than a dozen stab wounds.
Czuba allegedly shouted: “You Muslims must die!” to the family before the stabbing, according to text messages sent to the boy’s father.
“Detectives were able to determine that both victims of this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to their being Muslim and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. release.
Joseph M. Czuba, 71, arrested for fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and stabbing a woman dozens of times. Will Czuba County Sheriff’s Office fatally stabbed Wadea Al-Fayoume and seriously injured her mother Hanaan Shahin. Council on American-Islamic Relations
Authorities said the victims were rushed to hospital, with Al-Fayoume declared dead and Shahin in critical condition but expected to survive.
The mother and son had lived downstairs in Czuba’s home for about two years, according to the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which condemned the violence.
The incident occurred in the 16200 block of South Lincoln Highway.ABC 7 Chicago
CAIR-Chicago described the stabbings as the Muslim community’s “worst nightmare,” calling them part of a disturbing rise in hate crimes against them after Hamas’ attack on Israel and the Jewish state’s subsequent declaration of war.
The group said the homeowner “had become angry about what he was seeing on the news” and went to knock on the family’s door.
When Shahin opened the door, he allegedly tried to strangle her and then stabbed her and her son with a knife, CAIR said.
“What we have is a murdered Palestinian child, created by radicalization,” said CAIR president Ahmed Rehab.
Czuba was taken into custody at the scene and transported to a hospital to treat the cut on his forehead, police said.
He was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Czuba is currently being held at the Will County Adult Detention Center.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn