Friends identify victim of Cal Anderson Park shooting as 31-year-old father

Friends and family are mourning the death of an avid local basketball player, shot dead just feet from the courts where he played nearly every day.

The shooting happened at Cal Anderson Park early Saturday morning. Eyewitnesses say the shooter took off, leaving the victim fatally wounded.

Some bystanders tried to save this man’s life. At least three people tried giving him CPR, but they could not save him.

Now his family and friends are identifying him as Mercer Roy, a father, a son, and a cherished friend.

By all accounts, a village of strangers tried hard to save Roy’s life in the early morning hours of Saturday.

“We were taking turns doing compressions and keeping his airway open,” said a man who says he heard the shots. “And then the chick was breathing because she knew him really well so she was giving him breaths.”

This man didn’t want to be identified. But he was one of them.

“He was already gone,” he said. “It sounded like he started breathing at one point while we were giving him CPR. But he got a gunshot wound to his (expletive) chest, back of the chest and into the lung.”

Roy was at Cal Anderson Park playing basketball, say friends, like he did nearly every day. Eyewitnesses say there was an argument on the court and someone pulled out a gun.

When it was over, the 31-year-old father of a young daughter was dead.

“Man, this guy came out in Balenciaga sandals one time and literally dropped like 14, games are 15 so he dropped 14 in Balenciaga sandals,” exclaimed Roger Howard Jr, a close friend. “I’ll always remember that.”

And his friends cannot imagine why Roy is dead.

“I didn’t see anything,” said Howard. “I don’t know. I can’t picture it happening, you know. I know it’s just something that is different.”

This comes as this neighborhood is slowly returning to normal.

The Capitol Hill Garage Sale is back for the first time since the pandemic and the racial unrest that followed the police slaying of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“I do think that corner has some issues,” said Nilisha Prabhu, a vendor at the garage sale who lives across from the park. “But you know people keep asking if I feel safe as a woman here. And I have.”

A lot of people agree, saying this is a city so they try to be careful.

Seattle Police have not said whether they have a suspect or a motive. All they will say is that this is an ongoing investigation.

VIDEO: Capitol Hill Garage Sale returns after 2-year hiatus

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