Murder attempt alleged in shooting

WOODSTOCK – Authorities still want to talk with a 28-year-old woman who was shot in the face Sunday morning, but they said they did not believe her boyfriend’s assertion that it was an accident.

Police arrested Dale G. Barkstrom, 28, of 85 E. Terra Cotta Ave., Apt. 2RR, Crystal Lake, on Tuesday on upgraded charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm.

His girlfriend, Fatime Jashari, remained in a drug-induced coma at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge after undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to the jaw, Crystal Lake Deputy Police Chief Dennis Harris said.

Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

“We haven’t been able to talk to her at all,” Harris said Tuesday afternoon, adding that police planned to interview her when she was able.

Barkstrom was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm late Sunday after he told police his 9mm Glock handgun accidentally went off when he was lying in bed.

“The investigation disclosed an inconsistency that indicated otherwise,” McHenry State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi said, declining to discuss the facts of the case.

Police said Barkstrom owned the gun legally.

Barkstrom posted $3,000 bond Monday in connection with the reckless-discharge case, and police arrested him without incident about noon Tuesday on the more serious charges. Crystal Lake detectives found him driving a vehicle near his father’s home in Hoffman Estates, Harris said.

Barkstrom remained in McHenry County Jail on Tuesday evening unable to post 10 percent of his $500,000 bail. But prosecutors plan to ask that he be held without bond, Bianchi said.

If convicted of attempted murder, he could be sentenced to between 31 and 55 years in prison. Barkstrom is next due in court Dec. 4.