The man accused of trying to shoot the spiritual leader of Utah’s largest mosque was charged Tuesday with attempted murder and stalking — but he will not face any hate crime enhancements.

That’s because the 40-year-old suspect knew Imam Shuaib Din before the Feb. 23 attack, and prosecutors allege their past encounters motivated the shooting. Din was not harmed.

“It initially caused concern that a Muslim imam was targeted during Ramadan,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement. “This is still an act of violence on a member of our community.”

The suspect, Abdul Raouf Afridi, was arrested Feb. 27 — four days after the attack against the leader of the Utah Islamic Center in West Jordan.

The one count of attempted murder Afridi faces is a first-degree felony, and the stalking with a weapon count he faces is a second-degree felony.

Gill also filed an alternate set of charges against Afridi: One count of stalking with a weapon; one third-degree felony count of aggravated assault; and 13 third-degree felony counts of discharge of a firearm.

Prosecutors intend to present both sets of charges as options to a jury at trial.

If convicted on the attempted-murder charge, Afridi could face a sentence of up to life in prison. As of Tuesday, he was being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail, according to court documents.

The attack

According to a probable cause statement, Din had just broken his fast for Ramadan and was leaving his home on the evening of Feb. 23 for the Utah Islamic Center to attend prayers.

That’s when he saw a white vehicle with its headlights on, parked in front of a relative’s SUV. The driver stepped out of his car, “holding his hands together with his arms extended outward.”

Din drove on, calling 911 as he did. He briefly stopped, hoping to get a look at the car’s license plate. Then the vehicle pulled up next to the imam’s car and, police wrote, its driver started shooting.

Police said they later found eight bullet holes on the passenger side of Din’s car. A surveillance video showed 12 gunshots directed toward his car, and nine shell casings were found. No rounds struck Din.

Detectives later determined the white vehicle’s license plates were registered to a dealership, for which Afridi held the license, prosecutors said. Police found the car in that dealership’s lot, and, under a search warrant, investigators said they found a gun in the car with bullets that matched the casings found at the shooting scene.

After Afridi’s arrest, Din told The Salt Lake Tribune he was “impressed with the work of the law enforcement agencies” and felt “relieved that this is finally over.”