http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2187560/David-Conrad-shooting-Man-arrested-shooting-mosque-500-Muslims-prayed-inside.html#ixzz23RGKMXcu

Man arrested for 'shooting at mosque as 500 Muslims prayed inside'


By Daily Mail Reporter



PUBLISHED: 06:58, 13 August 2012
UPDATED: 07:01, 13 August 2012






A 51-year-old man has been arrested for shooting at a mosque near Chicago while hundreds of worshipers prayed inside.



David Conrad, from Morton Grove, Illinois, used a pellet rifle to fire multiple shots at the Muslim Education Center mosque neighbouring his house, just after 8.30pm on Friday.




One of the shots narrowly missed a security guard stationed at the place of worship, according to the Chicago Tribune.








Shooter: David Conrad, from Morton Grove, Illinois, pictured, used a pellet rifle to fire multiple shots at the Muslim Education Center mosque on Friday



Conrad is facing charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm and criminal damage to property.




Police later seized a 'high-velocity air rifle' at the man's home.




Nearly 500 Muslims were praying inside the mosque at the time of the shooting to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.



'This last week of Ramadan is the holiest week of the year for Muslims, and the shots were fired at 8:30, a little after sunset, the busiest time of the day when Muslims come to the mosque to break their long day fast and pray together,' MEC President Dr. Mohammad Aleemuddin said in a statement released by the Chicago Council on American-Islamic Relations.




Kamran Hussain, Vice President of the Muslim Community Center of Chicago, which owns the facility, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Conrad had 'always been a thorn in our side,' during his 12 years living adjacent to the mosque.








Worshiping: Almost 500 Muslims were celebrating Ramadan in the Muslim Education Center mosque, pictured, in Morton Grove



The mosque’s president, Mohammad Aleemuddin, is calling for the man to be charged with hate crime.




'It should be. It is a hate crime,' he told CBS Chicago.




Aleemuddin was inside praying on Friday night when Conrad allegedly fired the pellet rifle at the mosque.




'It was very shocking. It was very shocking,' he said, adding that children had been playing outside.



CAIR’s national headquarters issued a community safety warning for mosques earlier in the week after crimes targeting Muslims in Missouri and Rhode Island.




The attack also follows the mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin last week.




'We have a safe community here and we'll ensure that a complete and thorough investigation will continue until this matter is resolved,' Morton Grove police chief Mark Erickson told the Chicago Tribune.




Conrad is scheduled for a bond hearing today.