Palatine police charged Alexandros Paporakis, 19, with making a terrorist threat in an alleged mass-shooting plan.

The two counts are accusations filed after a tip and a search. They are not a finding that he selected a temple or that an attack was underway. Palatine police say there is no known ongoing threat, and he is detained until a court date on Oct. 30.

ABC News reported Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, that Palatine police arrested Alexandros Paporakis, 19, of Palatine, on Sunday evening, Oct. 11, as he was leaving his residence, after the Mount Prospect Police Department passed on a report from a person who had received "concerning electronic communications." Patch, citing the department's release, reported the tip came shortly after 3:30 p.m. Sunday and that officers took him into custody in the 1300 block of North Baldwin Court. He is charged with one count of making a terrorist threat, a Class X felony, and one count of unlawful possession of a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches, a Class 3 felony, Palatine police said, according to ABC News. The charges followed consultation with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Patch reported. A judge ordered him detained at a detention hearing Wednesday at the Cook County Third Municipal District courthouse in Rolling Meadows. His next court date is 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 30, in Room 108 at that courthouse, the police release said, as Patch reported. ABC News reported the time as 9 a.m. Eastern.

Police said he had shared a document outlining a mass-shooting plan and images of a rifle, magazines, body armor, and tactical gear, ABC News reported. A search of the home recovered a rifle, multiple loaded magazines, hundreds of additional rounds, tactical equipment, and a vest with body armor and a patch with white supremacist imagery, ABC News reported. Detectives, with the FBI's Chicago field office, reviewed a document attributed to him titled "Why I Fought: A.K.A.: (Aurora Shooter's Manifesto)," which police said contained white supremacist statements, including references to violence against people of South Asian heritage and of Indian descent, ABC News reported. Detectives believe he may have been planning an attack on Oct. 11 that potentially targeted a Hindu place of worship in the Aurora area, ABC News reported. Palatine police said the specific intended location has not been confirmed and is still under investigation. Aurora police were notified and contacted Hindu places of worship in their jurisdiction, ABC News and Patch reported. "The seriousness of this alleged threat cannot be overstated," Palatine Chief William Nord said, according to ABC News. He credited Palatine and Mount Prospect officers, the person who reported the messages, and the FBI.

ABC7 Chicago, citing prosecutors and court documents, reported additional allegations that go past the written police release. The station reported a co-worker at a Taco Bell in Arlington Heights contacted police after Paporakis sent a video of an AR-style rifle and a photo of himself in a tactical vest, and that prosecutors said an eight-page document used slurs, said he intended to kill as many minorities as possible, and described planning that had gone on for two years. ABC7 Chicago reported prosecutors said he described himself as a "sociopathic white supremacist Neo Nazi filled with hatred," and that he drove to a location, tried to fire at a man, and the gun jammed. The Associated Press reported he worked as a Taco Bell cashier and that investigators believe he planned to target the largest Hindu temple near Aurora. Palatine police told ABC7 Chicago they were still verifying whether there was a specific location and that they believe it was a Hindu temple in Aurora, which is why Aurora police were notified. The department's release, as ABC News reported it, still says the specific target is not confirmed. Those are different levels of certainty. The charge does not require the court to have settled the target.

"Thanks to the swift action by the Palatine and Mount Prospect Police Departments, the subject was taken into custody without harm to our community," FBI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Ryan Whalen said, according to ABC News. Whalen's comment followed the charging announcement by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, ABC News reported. Palatine police said the investigation remains active, including work with the FBI, and that they have not identified any known ongoing threat to the public, ABC News reported. Patch reported police are also reviewing possible additional charges. A detention order keeps him in custody until the Oct. 30 date. It is not a conviction. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.