Gunman in Prophet Muhammad Contest Shooting Had DuPage County Ties

Elton Simpson — one of the gunmen who opened fire at the Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas — was born in Illinois and lived in Downers Grove and Westmont before moving with his parents to Arizona.

Court records indicate Simpson tried to fly overseas to wage jihad, reports the Washington Post, noting that the FBI began investigating Simpson almost nine years ago. Simpson was convicted five years ago of lying about plans to travel to Somalia. The FBI believed he intended to join an African terror group.

Simpson, 30, and his roommate, Nadir Soofi, 34, were killed by police on Sunday in Garland, Texas, after they opened fire at the community center. Simpson and Soofi were clad in body armor and armed with rifles when they shot and wounded a security guard at the event. An off-duty police officer returned fire and killed both men in the street by their car, which was filled with more weaponry.

Simpson’s friends and lawyers told the Washington Post and the Wall St. Journal that he converted to Islam after moving from DuPage County to Arizona, where he attended high school. As he grew older, he became radicalized.

Local police told ABC 7 Chicago they had no record of interactions with Simpson other than a theft report he filed in 1996.

Reports the Wall St. Journal:

Mr. Simpson, once the star of his high school basketball team, had changed his name to Ibrahim after converting to Islam, a friend said on Monday.

The friend, who didn’t want to be identified for fear of retribution for speaking about the matter, said Mr. Simpson was a regular presence at a Phoenix area mosque. He described him as quiet but said Mr. Simpson had grown upset because he hadn’t been able to find a woman to marry. He said Mr. Simpson also expressed being frustrated because he said he had been put on the federal government’s no-fly list.

His lawyer, Kristina Sitton, told ABC News that Simpson seemed like a “normal guy.”

“He grew up the most normal guy. Just a normal high school guy,” she said. “Converting to Islam seemed like a good thing for him. ... I’m not a bleeding heart, I’m a Republican. I’ve seen some pretty bad guys, and he seemed pretty normal.”

His father, Dunston Simpson, told ABC 7 Chicago that his family is American, believes in America and his son’s actions reflect badly on the family.