Taylor J. Ritter, 20, of Gresham, Oregon, was found dead in a downtown Portland parking lot in the early morning hours of Sunday, November 2, 2025. Officers from the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct responded to a report shortly after 4:20 a.m. and found Ritter on the pavement; paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Evidence indicated he had been shot, and the Multnomah County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide by gunshot wound.

Family and friends remembered Ritter as warm, quick to smile, and devoted to loved ones, with a love of the outdoors and plans to return to Shelby, Montana, where he had once lived and envisioned building a future. Detectives from the Portland Police Homicide Unit treated the scene as an active investigation; officers closed nearby streets and collected evidence, but the suspect or suspects had left before first responders arrived and no arrest has been announced. Authorities continue to ask anyone with information to contact the homicide tip line.

Did anyone in the downtown Portland area see or hear something the morning of November 2 that could help investigators?