A few moments after he allegedly shot and seriously injured another father While being picked up at school, Noureddine Dib, 42, slowed down just enough to pat a nearby child on the head. Then he attacked the father whom he is accused of having tried to kill.

In Multnomah County Circuit Court on Friday, a prosecutor focused on that encounter in the Portland Islamic School parking lot, interrupting surveillance footage to say Dib, charged with attempted second-degree murder and first degree assault in the October 17 shootingdidn’t stop to think about what he was doing in front of the kids.

“The presence of children was not enough for Mr. Dib to question his actions that day, to reconsider what he was about to do,” said Assistant District Attorney Eric Palmer, who asked for a judge to deny Dib bail.

Whether that would be appropriate was the topic of Friday’s hearing.

Palmer argued that Dib posed a danger to the other father. Michael Zakarneh, 48 years oldwho appeared in court with his family, wearing a cast on his right foot and using a walker. Dib’s defense attorney, Grant Cole, disputed that assertion, saying Dib should be released from the Multnomah County Jail pending trial given that he has no criminal history and his Relatives describe him as kind, generous and peaceful.

At least 30 people filled the courtroom in support of Dib, including his wife. Only one bench included Zakarneh’s family, who told the court that the Muslim community linked to his mosque and children’s school had pressured him not to testify.

When asked what would happen if Dib was released, Zakarneh said Dib would look for him “if he wanted to” – or if he could harm anyone else.

“Nearly ended someone’s life”

In court, Zakarneh described three previous encounters he said he had with Dib.

The first time, Zakarneh was dropping his children off at the private school in southwest Portland in the tow truck he used for work when he encountered a man in a car yelling at him about his tow truck. He said he later found out the man was Dib.

A week later, Zakarneh greeted him in Arabic, saying Assalamu Alaikum, and patted his lips and forehead. Later, he said, Dib approached him and questioned the greeting before saying, “If you think you’re a big guy, I’m going to (expletive) stand you up right now. “

The day before the shooting, Dib gave Zakarneh the finger in front of his children, Zakarneh said.

Video footage of the shooting shows Zakarneh approaching the person police identified as Dib in the school parking lot. He told the court he hoped to make peace with Dib and let him know his actions were inappropriate.

According to his testimony, Dib then told Zakarneh to “get the (expletive) out of my face.” Dib then slammed the door of his sedan, the footage showed, and the man police identified as Dib pulled out a gun and shot Zakarneh.

Zakarneh then rushed toward the school’s exterior stairs, according to the footage. He jumped the steps before falling, injuring his foot and then fleeing to a nearby gas station. Dib then briefly hid inside the school.

Zakarneh said Dib shot him four times, twice at him in the parking lot and twice in the air at the top of the stairs.

“Not only did he cause a serious injury, but he almost ended someone’s life,” Palmer said. “It was his desire that day.”

Portland Police Detective Sara Clark, who investigated the shooting, said representatives of the mosque adjacent to the school asked Dib not to bring firearms there. Police recovered a 9mm handgun, two magazines and a knife inside the school after the shooting, she said.

“Grasp” previous situations

More than 40 people, including the school principal and leaders of the adjacent mosque, submitted letters to the court demanding that Dib be released on bail.

Dib has three young children and his wife considers him an involved father who takes responsibility and never poses a danger to anyone. Cole, his defense attorney, called prosecutors’ list of prior interactions with Zakarneh “striking,” adding that Dib had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

“This is a situation where a person has absolutely no criminal history, has never been charged with a prior crime, legally carried a firearm while the State presented evidence on certain prior exchanges that appeared to have become heated, and that resulted in a situation,” Cole said.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Henry Kantor questioned how he should evaluate the letters because they did not address the shooting and what might have caused it.

“How much weight should I give it when they’re not commenting on what happened here?” he asked.

He said he plans to issue a written decision regarding bail by the weekend.

—Zaeem Shaikh covers Portland Police Bureau and criminal justice issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Contact him at 503-221-4323, [email protected] or on @zaeemshake.