On the night of September 24, 2021, Jacob Eli Knight-Vasquez, 34, was killed while inside Silver Dollar Pizza in Northwest Portland. The shooting began just before 2 a.m. when a lone gunman outside the restaurant fired into the crowded space. Witnesses reported up to ten shots; Knight-Vasquez was struck and pronounced dead at the scene. Two other men were wounded.

Investigators recovered cartridge casings at the scene and used DNA from those casings as part of the inquiry. Ballistics linked the same weapon to an earlier shooting outside another Portland pub, and surveillance footage from both incidents showed the same individual wearing a Colorado Rockies baseball hat and a black puffy North Face jacket. Knight-Vasquez’s family described him at trial as a man full of light and love who was cherished by those who knew him.