The shooting followed earlier conflicts between two fathers over pickup and drop-off tensions.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A narrow school pickup area in Southwest Portland became the center of an attempted murder case after one father shot another during dismissal traffic, prosecutors said.
The Islamic School of Portland parking lot was a key part of the state’s case against Noureddine Dib, 43. Prosecutors said the lot was small, reached by a narrow residential street and crowded at the time parents arrived for pickup. On Oct. 17, 2024, they said, a dispute there ended with Dib shooting Michael Zakarneh in the abdomen. Dib was sentenced May 7 to 12 years in prison after a Multnomah County jury convicted him in April.
The setting mattered because the conflict began as a parent-to-parent dispute in a place built around children’s daily routines. Deputy District Attorney Eric Palmer said the parking area could create tense moments when full of drivers. Prosecutors said Dib and Zakarneh had already had several strained encounters before the shooting, including one tied to how Zakarneh drove during pickup or drop-off. The men attended the same mosque in Portland, according to prosecutors, but had known each other only about a month before the gunfire.
On the afternoon of the shooting, both men arrived to pick up their children. Zakarneh approached Dib and tried to talk, according to the prosecution’s account. A law enforcement affidavit cited in local reporting said Dib warned Zakarneh to get out of his face and said he would have to show him something. Zakarneh said they were just talking, according to that account. Prosecutors said Dib then pulled a gun and fired. The first shot struck Zakarneh in the abdomen. The confrontation did not end in the parking lot. Prosecutors said Zakarneh fled while Dib pursued him. Dib fired toward him at least once more, according to the district attorney’s office. Zakarneh jumped down stairs toward the school and shattered bones in his right ankle. He then escaped to a neighboring gas station, where good Samaritans helped him and called 911. Police later arrested Dib without incident. Officials said Dib went inside the school after the shooting before he was taken into custody.
Defense attorneys argued the shooting followed weeks of harassment, threatening behavior and mocking language. Dib told a 911 dispatcher he was a peaceful person and said Zakarneh kept harassing him. His lawyers said he believed he needed to protect himself. Prosecutors countered with surveillance footage and testimony. They said the video showed Zakarneh running away when Dib continued firing, and they argued that Dib’s own call did not clearly say he feared for his life when he shot.
The jury convicted Dib after about 12 hours of deliberation. The counts included attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm. The verdict came after jurors heard about earlier parking lot encounters, the shooting sequence, the path Zakarneh took while escaping and the 911 call. Prosecutors said the evidence showed an armed pursuit, not a single act of self-defense.
School pickup gave the case its broader weight. Prosecutors said the shooting happened minutes before children were set to come outside. Parents, students and staff had to process violence in a place where families gather every day. Amineh Zakarneh, the victim’s daughter, said in earlier local reporting that her father had been waiting to pick up her siblings. She described him as deeply loved by his family and said the shooting was gut-wrenching. She also said the mosque and school community were supposed to be places of respect and safety.
The district attorney’s office said prosecutors sought more than the 7.5-year minimum because of the facts of the shooting. They cited the school location, the abdominal gunshot wound, the pursuit, the additional shot and Zakarneh’s broken ankle. Palmer said after sentencing that the prison term addressed both the injury and the location. “It does address not just the injury caused to Mr. Zakarneh but the fact that this occurred at a school,” Palmer said. The case was prosecuted by Palmer and Deputy District Attorney Stephany Mgbadigha. The district attorney’s office credited Detectives Sara Clark and Laurent Bonczijk for their work. Local reports said Judge Andrew Lavin handled sentencing. The public record reviewed for this story did not show that the school itself faced any criminal allegation. The case remained focused on Dib’s conduct and the injuries to Zakarneh.
Dib is now serving the sentence ordered in Multnomah County Circuit Court. The shooting remains tied to one afternoon in a small school lot, where prosecutors said a dispute over respect and traffic turned into gunfire.
Author note: Last updated May 17, 2026.