Shirley Gail Knott, 31, was killed on March 2, 1975, while working as co-manager of the Ship Ashore motel in Smith River, California. According to accounts of the attack, a motel guest, 21-year-old Robert Paul Sander of Cincinnati, Ohio, opened fire with a high-powered rifle from a balcony overlooking the ocean. After initially striking other guests from the balcony, he went to the motel office and fatally shot Gordon and Shirley Knott.

Sander was reported to have checked into the motel the night before; deputies later found a new rifle box and ammunition in his room. He was captured three hours after the shooting on the Redwood Highway near Grants Pass, Oregon, and was booked on four counts of murder. The spree also killed other guests and wounded several people, leaving the local community reeling.

Are there readers who remember the Ship Ashore motel or who have information about that night?