PORTLAND, Ore. — A shooting outside the Islamic School of Portland that left one man injured on Thursday arose from an argument between two dads in the school drop-off lot, according to court documents.
The suspect, identified as 42-year-old Noureddine Dib, made his first appearance in court Friday. He faces charges of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault with a firearm, as well as two counts of unlawful use of weapon and a violation for discharging a firearm within the city limits.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, reports came in at 2:23 p.m. of a shooting involving two men. Officers arrived in the parking lot of a Shell gas station on Southwest Capitol Highway near Interstate 5 to find an injured man, identified in court documents as Michael David Zakarneh.
Police learned that the suspect had entered the school building after shooting Zakarneh. In a probable cause affidavit filed in court Friday, prosecutors said that Dib was on the phone with 911 dispatch before being transferred to police, who convinced Dib to leave his gun and exit the school.
After taking Dib into custody, the affidavit says that police found a 9mm handgun, two loaded magazines and a knife inside the school.
A detective interviewed the victim, Zakarneh, in the hospital. He said that he and Dib attended the same mosque and their children went to the same school, but they hadn't become acquainted until about a month prior to the shooting. Zakarneh said that Dib expressed he'd been "inconvenienced" by Zakarneh's driving during school drop-off.
The two remained on unfriendly terms after that incident, Zakarneh told detectives. The day before the shooting, Zakarneh said that Dib gave him the finger. So, the next day, Zakarneh said he approached Dib to discuss his "use of the middle finger in the presence of children."
According to the victim's story, Dib got out of his vehicle after Zakarneh asked to speak with him, saying, "What the f--- do you want?" Zakarneh said he expressed that Dib's behavior was inappropriate around children, and the argument escalated from there.
"Mr. Zakarneh reported that he suggested that Defendant (Dib) should lower his voice, to which Defendant replied, 'If you don't get the f--- out of my face, I'll have to show you something,'" the affidavit reads. "Mr. Zakarneh reported that he told Defendant, 'Look, we are just talking.'"
At that, Zakarneh told the detective, Dib slammed his car door, pulled out a handgun, racked the slide and shot Zakarneh in the gut. Despite the wound, Zakarneh said he ran down a set of nearby stairs as Dib followed. He kept running until he reached the nearby Shell parking lot.
The affidavit says that officers found surveillance footage and spoke to several witnesses, and those accounts were consistent with Zakarneh's story. One witness reported hearing a second gunshot as Dib followed the victim down the stairs.
Another witness said that he saw Dib at the school, with the gun in his hand, approach a crying child before he "patted the child on the head and told him that it was okay."
During his court appearance Friday, Dib's attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Dib will remain in jail until at least Monday, when there is a call scheduled with the court to discuss release conditions.