Suspected bank robber killed during shootout with FBI was on felony pretrial release

A convicted bank robber who was on felony pretrial release and wanted on an active arrest warrant was shot and killed by federal agents after he opened fire during a standoff on the West Side on Thursday afternoon, officials said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the deceased man as 25-year-old Abdulhafedh Abdulhafedh.

In 2023, Abdulhafedh pleaded guilty and received a four-year sentence in Will County for financial institution robbery tied to the attempted robbery of a BMO Harris Bank in New Lenox. Court records also show he received a three-year sentence in Cook County that same year for possessing a stolen vehicle and aggravated fleeing.

More recently, Elmhurst police arrested Abdulhafedh on March 11 on a charge of possessing a stolen motor vehicle. He was released pending trial, failed to appear in court, and has been the subject of an active arrest warrant since April 14, according to court records.

Federal officials said agents shot Abdulhafedh after he opened fire on them during a confrontation in the 3700 block of West Lexington Street shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday.

Video from the scene showed agents in two SUVs boxing in Abdulhafedh’s SUV near the curb. The footage showed him repeatedly accelerating and reversing in an apparent attempt to break free, but he was unable to escape. Additional agents fired explosive devices into the SUV, causing the sunroof to blast outward and the interior to fill with smoke, according to the video. Moments later, the footage appears to show Abdulhafedh extending his arm through the shattered sunroof and firing toward agents positioned across the street. The agents returned fire.

As the confrontation continued, the rear hatch of Abdulhafedh’s SUV opened, and the video appears to show gunfire coming from inside his vehicle, shooting off part of the FBI vehicle’s passenger-side mirror. The FBI did not report any injuries to agents involved in the confrontation.

Officials did not say which bank robbery Abdulhafedh was suspected of participating in, but a law enforcement source said they believed the agents were investigating the February 3, 2026, takeover robbery of a BMO Harris bank in Lisle involving three offenders.

In 2021, Abdulhafedh was charged with the attempted of a bank in New Lenox, according to Shaw Local. The outlet’s reporting said officials accused Abdulhafedh of entering the bank, handing a teller a garbage bag, and ordering employees to fill it with cash. The robbery was interrupted when a customer entered the bank, and Abdulhafedh fled empty-handed.

Investigators later learned the robber’s getaway vehicle had been stolen a week earlier from a Libertyville car dealership. Detectives eventually recovered the vehicle and allegedly found Abdulhafedh’s fingerprints on the steering wheel and on the garbage bag left inside, according to the Shaw Media report.

On Thursday, a man who identified himself as Abdulhafedh’s brother told ABC7 he was “heartbroken” by the shooting.

“I don’t know nothing about if he was tied with no bank robbery,” the man said. “If he was, that’s something I didn’t know about.”

Original reporting you’ll see nowhere else, paid for by our readers. Click here to support our work.