A Chicago landlord has been arrested for alleged hate crime after fatally stabbing a six-year-old boy and seriously injuring the mother in an anti-Muslim attack using a military-style knife.
The suspect reportedly stabbed the young boy 26 times using a serrated knife with a seven-inch blade on Saturday. Based on information from the Will County Sheriff's Office in Joliet, Illinois, the victim was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Anti-Muslim Attack
Officials noted that the mother of the young boy, who is 32 years old, was found to be in serious condition with more than a dozen stab wounds. Fortunately, she is expected to survive her injuries, and authorities did not publicly identify her or her son.
In a statement, the Sheriff's Office said that detectives were already able to determine that both victims in the horrifying attack were targeted because they were Muslim. The attack occurred amid a tense conflict between Israel and Hamas militants, as per the New York Times.
The two sides have been conducting deadly attacks on each other's territories. The militant group, in control of the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack on Oct. 7 against Israel, prompting the latter to respond with its assaults.
Since then, a flurry of demonstrations in New York and around the United States by pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters have occurred. The Chicago man involved in the recent incident was identified to be 71-year-old Joseph M. Czuba. He was the landlord of the home that the victims' family was renting.
Officials said the suspect has already been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The Sheriff's Office also described the attack as a "senseless and cowardly act of violence."
The mother of the six-year-old victim was able to call 911 on Saturday morning as her landlord was attacking her with a knife. According to the Chicago Sun Times, law enforcement personnel found the suspect outside of the residence and immediately took him into custody.
Chicago Landlord Arrested
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) later identified the young boy as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother as Hanaan Shahin. The organization also held a press conference with the father, uncle, and other family members on Sunday afternoon.
The executive director of the CAIR, Ahmed Rehab, said that the mother has been in the United States for more than a decade and that her son was born in the American nation. He added that the young boy loved playing basketball, soccer, and anything with a ball.
Officials from the Sheriff's Office said that the suspect did not make any statement to detectives following his arrest and being brought to the Will County Sheriff's Office Public Safety Complex. CAIR added that the two victims had lived on the house's ground floor for two years and had not had previous altercations with Czuba.
However, in text messages to the father of the killed boy after the attack, Shahin said that the suspect "knocked on their door, and when she opened, he tried to choke her and proceeded to attack her with a knife," said CNN.
