The suspect accused of shooting aa jewish man Several times on his way to a Chicago synagogue last week is a Mauritanian illegal immigrant who was released to the U.S. last year, Fox News has confirmed.

Four law enforcement sources say Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, a Mauritanian national, was apprehended in the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector in March 2023 and released to the US.

Police say he attacked the 39-year-old male victim early Saturday morning in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood. Police said the suspect was identified less than 30 minutes after the shooting, at which point he allegedly shot at responders before police “returned fire, striking the offender.” The victim, who was wearing traditional Jewish clothing, survived the attack.

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Police are investigating a shooting on Saturday, October 26, in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. (Fox32 Chicago)

Police said they recovered a gun at the scene and that Abdallahi was “placed into custody, transported to an area hospital and later charged accordingly.” Abdallahi faces 14 counts, including six counts of indictment attempted murder.

Mauritania is a Muslim majority country in northwest Africa. The Department of Homeland Security considers illegal immigrants from Mauritania to be “Aliens of Special Interest” due to security concerns and should receive additional DHS vetting.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Fox News Digital initially said it had no interaction with him. Law enforcement sources say there is a request for Abdallahi’s custody — a request that he be transferred to ICE custody if he is released — but that “sanctuary” policies in Cook County, Illinois, prohibit local authorities from cooperating with this.

Local Jewish leaders believe this was a hate crime, but so far no hate crime charges have been filed.

There has been a significant increase in Mauritanian arrivals, putting pressure on cities such as Lockland, Ohiowhere more than 3,000 migrants arrived in the village of 3,500. A Washington Post The June analysis found that more than 15,000 Mauritanian residents came to the U.S. last year, a 2,800 percent increase from 2022, when just 543 arrived.

This split shows Mauritanian immigrants at the border and the Lockland village administrator. (John Moore/Getty Images and Fox News Digital)

The incident taps into ongoing concerns about the potential for terrorists to cross the southern border amid the massive numbers of migrants who have met during the border crisis.

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An August House report found that of the more than 250 illegal immigrants on the terrorism watch list who were encountered by the Border Patrol at the Southwest border between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, DHS released at least 99 , with at least 34 others in DHS custody but not yet removed from the US

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Interim staff report also found that immigration judges have granted bail to at least 27 migrants on the watch list who entered illegally and that the Border Patrol has encountered tens of thousands of migrants from countries who may pose national security risks – including 2,134 Afghan nationals, 33,347 Chinese nationals, 541 Iranian nationals, 520 Syrian nationals and 3,104 Uzbek nationals.

“This does not include the untold number of would-be terrorists who have evaded the Border Patrol to enter the United States as part of the nearly 2 million ‘runaways’ since the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration,” the report said.

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This threat from foreign nationals hit the headlines this month when authorities announced the arrest of an Afghan national accused of plotting an election-day terror plot who had been released on parole in the US amid a hasty US withdrawal. from Afghanistan.

Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.