On a Friday night in September 2000, 43-year-old Daniel Lee Danny Overstreet was killed in a mass shooting at the Backstreet Café in Roanoke, Virginia. The café was described as a welcoming spot for the gay and lesbian community, and Overstreet was a regular there. A man identified as Ronald Edward Gay entered, ordered a beer, then opened fire, killing Overstreet and wounding six others.

Investigators treated the attack as a hate crime after learning Gay had reportedly expressed an intention to harm gay people earlier that day and had specifically asked for directions to a gay bar before arriving at the Backstreet Café. Police arrested Gay shortly after the shooting and recovered a 9mm pistol in a nearby trash can. He was charged with first-degree murder, multiple counts of aggravated malicious wounding, and firearms offenses; he later pleaded guilty. Friends and coworkers remembered Overstreet as funny, outgoing, and kind-hearted.