On February 19, 2013, 26-year-old Jeremy Lewis of Fullerton, California, was fatally shot at the Micro Center parking lot at Edinger and Newport while working as a construction worker. The shooting occurred during a violent spree carried out earlier that morning by 20-year-old Ali Syed, who had already killed a woman identified as Courtney Aoki at his Ladera Ranch home and committed multiple carjackings and shootings across Orange County.

Witnesses said Lewis took a phone call shortly before the encounter, prompting investigators to check phone records for any link to Syed. Phone records showed no prior communication, and investigators concluded Lewis had no known relationship with Syed and was killed in a random act of violence. Syed later stole a utility truck at the scene, shot another person who survived, and was found by officers in the stolen vehicle; he died of a self-inflicted wound as officers closed in.