Lodi News-Sentinel

Feds arrest suspected member of ISIS in Sacramento County

- By Sam Stanton, Darrell Smith and Julia Sclafani

Federal agents in Sacramento arrested a suspected ISIS member Wednesday on charges that he killed an Iraqi police officer in 2014 in the Rawah District of Al-Anbar province as fighters were taking over the town.

Omar Abdulsatta­r Ameen, 45, was arrested in Sacramento County and was to appear in federal court Wednesday afternoon as part of extraditio­n proceeding­s to return him to Iraq to face trial on a charge of premeditat­ed murder.

Court documents unsealed Wednesday afternoon say Ameen was part of a four-vehicle convoy that drove to the home of the victim on June 22, 2014, at about 7 p.m. and opened fire on his home.

“In response to the attack on his home, the victim returned fire with his Kalashniko­v rifle,” court documents state. “Ameen then fired his weapon at the victim while the victim was on the ground.

“A death certificat­e issued by the Rawah hospital confirms the victim’s death by gunshot to the chest.”

Ameen was scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan at 3:30 p.m.

Support coverage of breaking news and watchdog journalism. Click here to start a digital-only subscripti­on to The Sacramento Bee.

Multiple FBI officers wearing Joint Terrorism Task Force jackets were at 3121 Eastern Ave. in Arden Arcade earlier Wednesday, and Sacramento County Sheriff ’s Department deputies assisted agents in the operation.

FBI spokespers­on Gina Swankie would not comment on the specifics but would only say that officers were conducting “warrant activity.”

The operation began in the early morning, according to neighbors who woke to the activity next-door to the family’s second-floor apartment.

The residents of the apartment being searched are from Iraq, according to a Syrian father and daughter who live next door. Although the man said he didn’t know the neighbors well enough to know their names, he commented that they were good neighbors, as translated by the daughter from Arabic.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States