A man in his mid-20s who graduated from Atlantic City High School is believed to be the first American member of the Islamic State terror group to be filmed beheading a prisoner, according to a report in The Atlantic magazine published Saturday.

Zulfi Hoxha, whose family immigrated to the United States from Albania and formerly owned a pizzeria in Margate, is believed to have connected with another man, David Wright, through online video games possibly as early as 2010, the magazine reported.

Wright put Hoxha in touch with others who then helped Hoxha travel to a part of Syria controlled by Islamic State, according to court documents quoted by The Atlantic.

Last month, Wright was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for providing assistance to ISIS and for conspiring to kill Americans.

Hoxha, who adopted the name Abu Hamza al-Amriki after arriving at an ISIS training camp in April 2015, eventually became a commander of the group and is believed to be the person seen beheading a Kurdish prisoner in a video released by ISIS in October 2015.

Hoxha also appears in a propaganda video the group released in May, in which Hoxha -- thought to be one of the few Americans to rise to a leadership position within ISIS -- is seen urging prospective terrorists to carry out attacks in their home countries, The Atlantic reported.

Hoxha's mother, Ltefaji Hoxha, told NJ Advance Media by phone Thursday that she had not spoken to him in at least a year, before hanging up.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.