On Halloween night in 2024, a family trip to the Vancouver Mall for a trick-or-treating event ended in tragedy. James Perez, a 27-year-old Hispanic/Latino man, was with his girlfriend and their children when they became separated from their autistic son inside the busy mall. As Perez anxiously searched for his child in the second-floor food court, a man wearing a Joker-style Halloween mask began to follow him.
The festive atmosphere was shattered around 7:30 p.m.
when the masked man shot Perez in the back of the head at point-blank range. As Perez fell, the gunman fired several more rounds into his body. The gunshots sent panicked families scrambling for safety. In the chaos, two other men, Daniel Martin and Brandon Leyrer, were struck by bullets or fragments. Martin was shot in the foot and Leyrer in the abdomen; both were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and later released.
The shooter, who had entered the mall with his mother, girlfriend, and a young child, fled with his party immediately after the attack. Investigators reviewed mall surveillance footage that captured the gunman stalking his victim before the fatal encounter. Two days later, on November 2, 2024, a SWAT team surrounded an apartment in Vancouver, and 32-year-old Travis L. Ward surrendered to authorities.
Ward was charged with first-degree murder for the death of James Perez and two counts of first-degree assault for the injuries to the other men. He was held in the Clark County Jail without bail. Authorities did not release a motive for the targeted shooting, stating that Ward would not offer any explanation. While incarcerated, Ward reportedly made phone calls to his girlfriend, Anissia Jenkin, instructing her not to cooperate with the investigation, which resulted in an additional charge of witness tampering. Ward, who had a prior criminal history including unlawful use of a weapon, pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The trial of Travis Ward began in late October 2026. During the proceedings, jurors heard testimony from survivors, including Daniel Martin, who described seeing the gunman fire the remaining rounds into Perez's body on the floor. Ward's girlfriend also took the stand to testify against him. As of October 2026, the trial was ongoing.
