Man killed Muslim boy and wounded woman in hate crime motivated by Israeli-Hamas war, police say

CHICAGO (AP) — A 71-year-old Illinois man accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman was charged with a hate crime Sunday.

Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Officers found the woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on social media.

The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement.

An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times.

“Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the sheriff's statement said.

In recent days, police in US cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments.

Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase in hateful and threatening rhetoric on social media.

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