In the early morning hours of July 17, 2021, 18-year-old Makayla Maree Harris was struck during a burst of gunfire near a food cart area in the 300 block of Southwest 3rd Avenue in downtown Portland. She had just graduated from Grant High School and was with friends when, at about 2:10 a.m., what authorities believe was a drive-by shooting sent bullets into the crowd. Makayla was one of seven people struck; she was critically injured, taken to a local hospital, and later died of a gunshot wound that the medical examiner ruled a homicide.

Investigators say Makayla appears to have been an innocent bystander and that the shooters fired from a vehicle before fleeing. Police believe the intended target was another person in the crowd thought to have gang affiliations; that person was not hit and the other six victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. No arrests or suspect information have been released, and investigators say many potential witnesses left the scene without speaking to police. The FBI has offered up to a $25,000 reward, and Crime Stoppers of Oregon has offered $2,500, for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Makayla’s family remembers her as a loving daughter and a great baby sister to six siblings with a contagious smile and a kind heart. If anyone was there that night or has information that could help the investigation, please come forward.