A late-night game of basketball at Seattle's Cal Anderson Park on August 13, 2022, turned deadly for Mercer Roy, a 32-year-old male and father. Friends and family remember him as a devoted basketball player who frequented the park's courts almost daily. On this particular night, an argument erupted on the court, escalating to a tragic and fatal conclusion.
The dispute, which began as a verbal disagreement between players, ended when a third individual produced a semi-automatic rifle.
In a brutal sequence of events described by his mother, Karin Roy, Mercer was first shot in the thigh, causing him to fall to the ground. When his friends attempted to come to his aid, the gunman threatened them, asking who would be next. Mercer managed to get back on his feet and tried to flee, but he was shot twice in the back, which resulted in his death at the scene. Arriving officers found a chaotic situation, and despite the efforts of bystanders and medics to perform CPR, his injuries were too severe.
In the immediate aftermath, Seattle police detained one person, but no arrests have been made in connection with the murder, and the case remains unsolved. The investigation has been hampered by a lack of witnesses coming forward, despite the public nature of the shooting. In her search for justice, Mercer Roy's mother has taken it upon herself to gather information, putting up flyers in Cal Anderson Park and creating an email address for anonymous tips to be passed on to detectives. The shooting is one of a number of homicides in the area that remain unresolved, leaving a family without a son and a young daughter without her father.
