On the evening of May 7, 1981, 24-year-old Allen L. Wilcox was shot at the Oregon Museum Tavern on Front Street NE in Salem during a crowded ladies’ night event. Wilcox, a McNary High School graduate who worked at a local auto parts store, was critically wounded and later died at a local hospital.

Police say 25-year-old Lawrence William Moore entered shortly after 10:30 p.m. and opened fire with a 9mm Browning handgun, shooting toward the bar and then at fleeing patrons. A patron struck Moore with a pool cue while he was reloading, and other customers subdued him until officers arrived. The attack left four people dead at the scene and several wounded; another victim later died of injuries sustained that night, bringing the total to five fatalities.

Moore was arrested at the scene and went on trial beginning October 6, 1981; he pleaded not guilty and raised a mental disease or defect defense. The jury rejected that plea and found him guilty on four counts of aggravated murder. Does anyone have memories of that night at the Oregon Museum Tavern or information about Allen Wilcox’s life in Salem?