Glendale Heights man held without bail on attempted murder charges in Schaumburg shooting
A Glendale Heights man who authorities say shot at four people outside a Schaumburg hookah lounge early Monday was ordered held without bail Wednesday.
Raza H. Zaidi, 29, is charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm.
If convicted of attempted first-degree murder charges, Zaidi faces 26 to 50 years in prison on each count. If convicted of the firearm charges, he faces four to 15 years in prison on each count.
A second defendant, 19-year-old Surya Govindhakannan of Des Plaines, is charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He was ordered held on $10,000 bail and house arrest. Both men next appear in court on May 27.
The shooting occurred about 2:30 a.m. Monday in a parking lot on the 1300 block of North Roselle Road. According to prosecutors, four people — whom authorities identified as victim 1, a 29-year-old man; victim 2, a 27-year-old woman; victim 3, another 27-year-old woman; and victim 4, a 24-year-old woman — were hanging out near two vehicles outside the hookah lounge when a white Mercedes pulled up. Prosecutors say Zaidi and another, unidentified man got out of the vehicle while Govindhakannan, the driver, remained inside the Mercedes.
They say Zaidi and the unidentified man got into an argument with victim 1, who was sitting in the back seat of victim 2's vehicle with the door open. The man tried to speak in Hindi to Zaidi, who did not understand the language, prosecutors said.
The argument escalated, and Zaidi punched the man, still seated in the car, in the face three times, according to Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Piotr Karpierz.
Attempting to calm the situation, victim 2 exited the car. Zaidi punched her several times, Karpierz said, and she fell to the ground.
The unidentified man brandished a small pocketknife and walked toward victim 1, who, in an attempt to defend himself, removed his belt and began to swing it toward the man, who subsequently backed away, Karpierz said.
At that point, Zaidi walked back to the Mercedes followed by victim 1, who swung his belt in an attempt to scare Zaidi, according to Karpierz. Zaidi retrieved a silver handgun and fired it at victim 1, who ran back toward the hookah lounge, Karpierz said.
As he was running, victim 1 heard a second shot, changed course and began running toward victim 2's vehicle, Karpierz said.
Zaidi got into the Mercedes, which sped away with Govindhakannan at the wheel, prosecutors said. Meeting at victim 1's workplace, the four victims noticed a bullet hole in the back passenger door, Karpierz said.
A hookah lounge patron not associated with either group reported seeing victim 1 strike Zaidi with his belt and saw Zaidi raise the handgun and fire three shots in victim 1's direction, Karpierz said. A second witness saw Zaidi get into the white Mercedes and called 911 with a description of the car, Karpierz said.
Police located the Mercedes, from which they recovered a loaded, silver, .380 semi-automatic handgun under the front passenger's seat and a loaded, brown and black semi-automatic handgun from the center console. From the crime scene, officers recovered three shell casings that were the same caliber as the weapon found under the front passenger seat, where Zaidi was sitting when police stopped the car, Karpierz said.
Police said neither defendant had Firearm Owners Identification cards or concealed carry permits, and neither man knew the four victims before the shooting.