Watch CBS News

Police Say Shooting Of Boston Couple In NJ Is Not Random

BOSTON (CBS) - On Tuesday night, 27-year-old Nazish Noorani and her husband Kashif Pervaiz were pushing their three year old son in a stroller in their relative's quiet New Jersey neighborhood, when three men confronted them, and began shooting.

Noorani was killed, Pervaiz was shot in the foot and shoulder, and the toddler was not hurt. Noorani's famiy says she didn't want to go for the walk, but her husband was persistent. Her sister says, "He came back and it's too dark there and I'm scared. And we were joking and said you are a New York person and you're scared?"

Family members say the couple was visiting New Jersey for the holy month of Ramadan.

Police say the shooting was targeted.

WBZ-TV's Karen Anderson reports

Sources tell us police are questioning a suspect.

Now we're uncovering a different side of her Kashif Pervaiz.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, on Feb. 25th Kashif Pervaiz was arrested and charged with assault and battery.

He was arraigned in East Boston District Court on Feb. 28th.

The victim was a 20-year-old Brooklyn woman who identified herself to police as the defendant's girlfriend.

A bench trial date was set for May 3rd, but the victim didn't appear on that day.

When prosecutors tried to contact her, she indicated that she didn't want to go forward.

The judge dismissed the case.

Noorani's name is on the mailbox of their East Boston home, but a neighbor says he had seen Pervaiz with another woman, and he says Pervaiz told him he was getting a divorce.

Pervaiz told people he was a PhD student at Harvard. However, Harvard tells us they have no record of him.

From New Jersey, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi released this statement:

"Attorneys, detectives and support staff from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office along with the Morris County Sheriff's Office and the Boonton Police Department have been working around the clock on this investigation. These investigative efforts are still underway. We will not publicly release information which could ultimately compromise our ongoing investigation.

To be clear, my primary concern is to professionally solve this crime and being able to prove same in a court of law. Doing it the right way takes time and patience. While not releasing information at this time may be frustrating, it is being done so that our paramount objective of arresting and prosecuting the person(s) responsible for this brutal slaying are brought to justice.

We appreciate that the family and community wish to learn of the circumstances of this terrible tragedy. But again, it is absolutely necessary to protect this investigation, so that our investigative team is able to do its job and ultimately get to the truth and not provide the community bad data, rumors, and the other kinds of wild speculation that come from unreliable sources, as has already occurred.

Hence, we will release information when it is determined to be practically feasible and when we are assured that the data is correct and not based on faulty speculation."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.