A six-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to death, and his mother was injured when their landlord, citing their faith and the Israel-Paestine war, attacked them with a military knife.
The victims have been identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently turned six, and his mother Hanaan Shahin, 31. The identity of the accused hasn’t been revealed.
“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 Will County Sheriff’s Office in suburban Chicago said in a statement on Sunday.
Officers found both victims on Saturday morning at a home roughly 65km (40 miles) southwest of Chicago.
The boy, who was pronounced dead at the hospital, was stabbed 26 times with a large military-style knife, according to an autopsy on Sunday, the sheriff’s office said.
The mother had more than a dozen stab wounds on her body. She remained hospitalised on Sunday but was expected to survive.
