A jammed rifle stopped an alleged mass shooting at an Illinois Hindu temple, and a coworker's tip stopped the return trip, police say

The attack, on the police account, failed on a mechanical fault, and then its author talked.

Palatine police told a Thursday news conference that Alexandros Paporakis, 19, drove on Sunday, October 11, to a large Hindu temple in Aurora, a Chicago suburb, carrying a modified AR style rifle with no serial number, about 300 rounds of ammunition, body armour and other tactical gear. Surveillance video shows his red Acura entering the temple car park at 12:25 p.m. and leaving minutes later. Prosecutors say he tried to fire at a man at the temple and the rifle jammed. Among the people inside worshipping at that moment, by his own statement on October 15, was Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, with his family.

Paporakis went home to Palatine, searched the internet for how to clear the jam, and told a coworker at the Taco Bell where he works that he intended to carry out a mass shooting. The coworker reported it. Police got a warrant, searched the home he shares with his mother, and arrested him before any return to Aurora. The search turned up the rifle, loaded magazines, hundreds of rounds, tactical equipment and items bearing Nazi imagery. Investigators also recovered an eight page document they describe as a manifesto, in which, police say, Paporakis called himself a sociopathic white supremacist neo Nazi, used slurs for South Asian, Jewish and Black people, described them as subhumans, and wrote of killing as many as possible. Police say he had been planning the attack for two years and researched the temple online, and that he acted alone. The FBI's Chicago field office publicly thanked the person who came forward, saying a single courageous tip is what prevents attacks of this kind.

In court, a Cook County judge ordered Paporakis held without bond on one felony count of making a terrorist threat and one of unlawful possession of a weapon, and put a healthcare order in place. NBC Chicago reported the judge noted he receives hormone injections for gender transition and is being treated for ADHD, depression and anxiety. His next court date is October 30. The temple has increased its security.

The charges are allegations and have not been tested in court. What is not in dispute on any account is the sequence that mattered on Sunday: a rifle that would not fire, and a coworker who picked up the phone instead of keeping quiet. Between those two facts, a temple full of families, including a member of Congress, went home.