On the evening of July 20, 2020, gunfire rang out in an alley in a Waterloo, Iowa neighborhood. Residents reported hearing shots and seeing someone on the ground; officers arriving found numerous spent shell casings and at least one nearby home had been struck by a bullet, but no victim in the alley.

Shortly after, 15-year-old Cortez J Harrison arrived at a local hospital unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds. He died on July 21, 2020; his death was ruled a homicide and the Waterloo police opened an investigation and asked the public for help identifying what happened and who fired the shots that night.

Investigators identified a suspect, Andre Collier, 34 at the time, who was later detained in Haltom City, Texas. Court documents show Collier faced charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and flight to avoid prosecution; witnesses reported he fired several shots during an exchange of gunfire in which he was also wounded, and his lawyers suggested he may have acted in self-defense.

If anyone has information about the shooting in that alley or about Cortez’s final hours, please come forward.