On March 2, 1975, Percy Harmon, 69, was critically wounded during a shooting spree at the Ship Ashore motel in Smith River, California. The gunman, identified as 21-year-old motel guest Robert Paul Sander from Cincinnati, opened fire from a balcony overlooking the ocean, killing Barbara Harmon, 58, and seriously injuring her husband Percy. The shooter then entered the motel office and fatally shot manager Gordon Knott and his wife Shirley Gail Knott; a maid, Ella Beam, was also killed.

Sander was arrested about three hours later on the Redwood Highway near Grants Pass, Oregon, and was booked on four counts of murder. Investigators recovered a recently purchased rifle and ammunition from his motel room; Sander’s mother said he had quit his job and bought the rifle shortly before the attack. The motive remains unclear.

If anyone knew Percy Harmon or was staying at the Ship Ashore motel around March 2, 1975, does anything about Percy or the shooter’s behavior that weekend still stand out?