Shawn Michael North was 30 when he was shot during an attempted truck theft in the early morning hours of May 21, 2001, in the 1200 block of Doreen Avenue in Waterloo, Iowa. Neighbors found him moaning and screaming in a driveway after two men allegedly confronted him and tried to take his truck; when he resisted, he was shot in the spinal cord and left paraplegic from the sternum down.

For the next 15 years North lived with severe complications from that injury, including painful bedsores and surgery for a colostomy bag. His sister Sherry Powers served as his primary caregiver and he eventually bought a home near her. North died in Waterloo on August 30, 2016; the medical examiner attributed his death to complications from the 2001 gunshot wounds, and the police reclassified the original aggravated assault as a homicide.

Evidence from the 2001 scene was entered into a national database but produced no matches, and no suspects or arrests have been reported. Does anyone have information about the 2001 shooting or those who might have been in the area that night?