A U.S. Marshals task force has arrested a 35-year-old West Side man in St. Louis in connection with the fatal shooting of a father and son at their family-owned jewelry store in Little Village last autumn, Chicago police said.
Muhammad Thomas is scheduled to appear for a detention hearing on Friday at 26th and California. Prosecutors are expected to go into detail about the allegations then.
In addition to killing 63-year-old Fino Alamo Dominguez and his 25-year-old son, Luis Alamo, during a November 8 burglary at their store in the 3800 block of West 26th Street, Thomas is charged with shooting a 26-year-old man in the 1700 block of West Maypole Avenue in July 2023 and robbing another victim in the 2300 block of West Cermak Road in July 2024, CPD said.
Jewelry store slayings
Officers were called to the family’s jewelry store around 5:49 p.m. on November 8 after multiple 911 callers reported men shooting at each other and two people lying on the ground. Responding officers found Dominguez and his son critically wounded along 26th Street. Both were transported to Mount Sinai Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
Investigators initially said the confrontation began when a man entered the business, displayed a gun, and demanded items. After taking valuables from the store, the robber stepped outside, where he became involved in a struggle with the victims, according to initial reports. The confrontation spilled into the street as passing drivers slowed and swerved to avoid the men.
Witnesses reported seeing men firing shots in the roadway and the victims collapsing onto the pavement. Officers recovered about a dozen shell casings and pieces of jewelry scattered near the scene.
Surveillance video later showed a man exiting a white car and walking into the store at 5:48 p.m. Fourteen seconds later, he ran out, chased by one of the victims. The second victim followed. Seconds after the pursuit reached the street, shots were fired. At 5:49 p.m., the gunman dove back into the white car and fled south on Springfield Avenue.
ICE rumors put on ice
In the days after the killings, Chicago police released surveillance images and a brief video clip showing two men wanted for questioning in the double homicide. One man, seen wearing a Blackhawks jersey, appeared to be directly involved in the struggle and shooting. Investigators have not publicly detailed the role of the second individual shown in the images.
Cook County Crime Stoppers Executive Director Paul Rutherford called the slayings “a senseless act of violence” in a statement issued shortly after the attack.
The high-profile murders also sparked a wave of online speculation, including claims that federal immigration agents were responsible for the murders or that residents delayed calling 911 because of fear of immigration enforcement.
On the Sunday after the shooting, a Chicago Tribune reporter posted on X that “Witnesses say their lifeless bodies lay on the ground in the middle of the street for several minutes before anyone called the police.”
The post included a quote from local resident Dolores Castañeda: “The community doesn’t trust the CPD—even less now that we’re being terrorized by ICE, and they seem to be protecting the agents instead of the community.”
By the next morning, the post had drawn hundreds of thousands of views and widespread engagement. But surveillance video and police dispatch records contradict claims of a delay in notifying authorities.
Video shows the gunman entering the store at 5:48 p.m., fleeing seconds later, and shots being fired in the street. At 5:49 p.m., as the shooter sped away, multiple 911 calls came in simultaneously reporting people shot, vehicles fleeing, and gunfire in the roadway. Dispatch audio reviewed by CWBChicago indicates there was no prolonged period in which the victims lay unattended before police were notified.
Another rumor circulated online pointing to a white SUV with Texas license plates seen in the area and suggesting the occupants were immigration agents who carried out the killings.
One widely shared Facebook post asked, “It’s very strange that a Truck with Texas license plate was seen leaving after the shooting. Is this ICE killing our people?”
That speculation was fueled in part by CPD’s initial press release, which stated that the gunman “entered a white SUV and fled.” Surveillance footage shows the suspect leaving in a white car that does not match the SUV depicted in the viral social media posts.
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