DEARBORN HEIGHTS – The Dearborn Heights Police Department has announced the arrest of an Illinois resident accused of threatening a local mosque in late September.

Police increased security around the Islamic Institute of America on the evening of September 29, after receiving a report about a bomb threat targeting the mosque, located near Ford Road and Kinloch Street. The threat came just one day after a deadly shooting at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc.

Investigators traced the source of the threat to Elgin, Illinois, where the suspect, Kenneth Gehrke, 63, resides.

Through coordinated work between Dearborn Heights Police and the Elgin Police Department, with support from the FBI, Wayne County Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, and the Detroit and Southeast Michigan Intelligence and Information Center, investigators developed information and evidence that led to identifying Gehrke as the suspect.

After reviewing the case, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Gehrke, who was taken into custody and transferred to the Dearborn Heights Police holding facility on Monday, November 10, and is in custody at the Wayne County Jail.

Gehrke is facing multiple charges, including making a terrorist threat, committing a hate crime and criminal harassment.

“I am pleased this individual has been located and now remains in custody,” said Dearborn Heights Police Chief Ahmed Haidar. “The arrest is a great example of local, county, state and federal partners working together to address incidents of this type. Special thanks to the officer in charge of the case, Sergeant Ahmad Mazloum, along with the Dearborn Heights Police Department Detective Bureau and our federal partners for their extensive resources and assistance throughout the investigation.”

In a separate case, a 32-year-old Virginia man was recently jailed on several charges after he was accused of making comments about targeting a mosque in Dearborn with an AR-15, WSET-TV (Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia) reported Monday, Sept. 29.