‘He didn’t deserve what happened’: Restaurant owner fatally shot on NW Side

A restaurant owner from the northwest suburbs was shot to death Thursday morning in the Belmont Gardens neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

About 6:45 a.m., 46-year-old Peter Rim was a passenger in a vehicle traveling west in the 4100 block of Diversey Avenue when an SUV pulled up and there was a verbal exchange, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

“The guy in the car was trying to talk to us,” another passenger in the car, Kurt Anderson, said. “Peter opened the window and then [the person in the SUV] opened fire.”

Police said Rim was in shot in the head. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 10:57 a.m., authorities said. He lived in South Barrington.

Rim owned three restaurants in the northwest suburbs, according to Anderson, Rim’s friend of 15 years. Rim owned two locations of an Asian fusion restaurant, Bistro Wasabi, in Lake in the Hills and Hoffman Estates. There was also a Mexican restaurant and bar, El Cochino.

In a social media post from Bistro Wasabi, Rim was described as “wild, fun, energetic, and loving.” The post said Rim, “affected so many lives here and every one here misses you so much. You are so loved. Rest easy Peter.”

Anderson said the shooting was unprovoked and that he hoped Rim’s killer would be brought to justice.

“He didn’t deserve what happened,” Anderson said. “We never saw the guy before.”

Anderson summed up his appreciation for his friend by saying, “I have three older brothers, and if I could choose one older brother, I would choose Peter.”

Area North detectives were conducting a homicide investigation. No one was in custody.