Chase Passauer was 23 when he was fatally shot at his desk at the North Star Criminal Defense law firm in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota, on the afternoon of April 7, 2016. A law clerk described as a friend and brother to colleagues, Passauer was working alone when a disgruntled client, Ryan David Petersen, arrived at the office apparently intending to confront his attorney, who was in court and not present.

Petersen shot Passauer multiple times; attorneys Dan Adkins and James Gempeler arrived shortly afterward and found Passauer grievously wounded. Passauer was pronounced dead at the scene. Petersen fled but was captured early the next morning after a police chase that ended in Washington County and was charged in connection with the killing.

Court documents say Petersen admitted the shooting and a jury found him guilty. The case raises the question of whether Passauer was mistaken for the attorney Petersen intended to confront; anyone with information about Chase, the office that day, or the events leading up to the shooting is asked to come forward.