Man who allegedly fired gunshots outside Albany synagogue is facing second firearms charge, federal prosecutor says

By Rob Frehse, CNN

(CNN) — A man accused of firing a shotgun into the air outside of an Albany, New York, synagogue before Hanukkah observance last week has been charged with a second firearms offense, federal prosecutors announced.

Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 28, is now facing a charge of conspiracy to make a false statement during the purchase of a firearm in addition to the initial charge of possessing a firearm as a prohibited person, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said Monday.

Investigators believe Alkhader fired twice outside Temple Israel in Albany on December 7. He was arrested later that day and told police during an interview that “events in the Middle East have impacted him” and that he “regularly uses marijuana,” according to a criminal complaint.

Prosecutors used that statement, in part, to support the initial charge, arguing that Alkhader possessed a firearm while unlawfully using a controlled substance.

In a statement announcing the new charge Monday, prosecutors said Alkhader obtained the shotgun used outside the synagogue by giving money to a friend, who lied on a federal form while purchasing the gun weeks before the incident.

The friend allegedly checked a “Yes” box in response to a question asking him whether he was buying the gun for himself and “warning him that it was federal crime to buy a firearm, from a licensed firearms dealer, for another person,” prosecutors said.

Alkhader didn’t try to purchase the shotgun himself because he believed “he was potentially ineligible to purchase a firearm due to a prior order of protection or restraining order,” according to the attorney’s office.

Earlier, authorities said in a complaint that the shotgun was manufactured outside the state and has “therefore traveled in interstate commerce.”

CNN has sought comment from attorney Timothy Austin, who represented Alkhader at his first court appearance.

The incident outside the synagogue happened in the midst of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East, which has led many Jews, Muslims, Palestinians and others in the US to say they are growing more fearful of hate-motivated attacks.

As the war stretches on, tensions have also been mounting in the US, highlighted by cases like the death of a Jewish protester during a rally in Southern California and the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont.

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CNN’s Polo Sandoval and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this alert.