A Palestinian American boy is dead and his mother is seriously wounded after their landlord allegedly attacked them at their home in Plainfield Township, Illinois. Wadea Al-Fayoum, 6, and his mother, 32-year-old Hannan Shahin, were reportedly stabbed multiple times by Joseph Czuba, 71. Investigators believe Czuba targeted the family because they are Muslim.
Tragically, the knife attack coincides with the Palestinian militant group Hamas' attack on Southern Israel. The war has reportedly claimed the lives of at least 1,000 people and resulted in the capture of 100 hostages, NPR reported. The Hamas terrorist attacks and the vicious act in Plainfield Township left innocent people dead. Today, the landlord is in jail, charged with murder.
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Will County sheriff's deputies responded to a domestic dispute on October 14.
According to a release from the sheriff's office, deputies arrived at a residence in the 16200 block of S. Lincoln Highway just before noon Saturday. A call came in reporting a stabbing between a landlord and his tenant. When they arrived, Czuba was reportedly sitting outside the home with a cut on his face.
Once inside, deputies discovered the gruesome scene.
Shahin reportedly called 911 to report the attack. When deputies arrived, she and her son were gravely injured. Emergency personnel took the victims to area hospitals, where the mother remains in serious condition, but her son died. According to sheriff's police, an autopsy revealed Wadea was stabbed 26 times.
Czuba was treated for his injuries.
Emergency personnel took the landlord to an area hospital but quickly released him into police custody. Law enforcement transported him to the Will County Sheriff's Office Public Safety Complex for questioning. The sheriff's office said he did not make a statement, but there was sufficient evidence to charge him with multiple crimes.
A Muslim group spoke out against their 'worst nightmare.'
The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a release stating the organization was heartbroken over the alleged hate crime and felt confident law enforcement would bring justice to the family.
The council reportedly received text messages sent to Wadea's father from his mother while she was in the hospital.
"The landlord who had been angry with what he was seeing in the news knocked on their door, and when she opened, he tried to choke her and proceeded to attack her with a knife, yelling "you Muslims must die!" according to the council's release.
When she ran into the bathroom to call 911, she came out to find that he had apparently stabbed her 6-year-old son to death. (Previous media stories erroneously reported that he is 8). 'It all happened in seconds'" she texted, according to the council.
The release said the organization's mission is "to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims."
President Biden also made a statement about the horrific crime.
He said he and first lady Jill Biden were devastated by the attack on the Palestinian American family. He said the family came to the United States to seek refuge and "to live, learn, and pray in peace."
"As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal," Biden noted in the release. "There is no place in America for hate against anyone. We join everyone here at the White House in sending our condolences and prayers to the family, including for the mother's recovery, and to the broader Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities."
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Czuba faces multiple charges.
"Joseph Czuba was charged with First Degree Murder, Attempted First Degree Murder, Hate Crime (2 counts), and Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," the sheriff's office statement reads. "The Will County Sheriff's Office would like to thank the Will County State's Attorney's Office for their assistance in working with detectives regarding Joseph Czuba being formally charged in this senseless and cowardly act of violence."
Czuba is in a detention center awaiting a court appearance. It was unclear whether he has obtained an attorney.
