A memorial sprang up near the scene of the deadly shooting a short time after it happened, and became a focal point for grieving friends and family of the victim during the day that followed.

Shiloh Drott

They came together for Shiloh Drott, 21, who was enjoying an evening with family and friends at the community center in Pacific when he was gunned down in cold blood.

Someone opened fire through a window of the community center next door to Pacific's city hall, hitting Drott in the chest. He died on the rec room floor as shocked friends and children - some reportedly as young as 4 years old - looked on.

Drott's mother, says the community center was always a special place for their family.

"Our kids grew up with the rec hall. This is their sanctuary," she said late Saturday.

Drott was well-known for his work as a youth mentor. He and his friends had just finished a basketball game and were about to eat pizza when the gunman tracked him down.

"He was like, sitting in his chair. He was like, "What's going on?" And another bullet came and hit him, he just fell on the ground," says 11-year-old Kaleb Shoute, who was sitting next to Drott when he was shot to death.

Another eyewitness, Colin Cruickshank, told KOMO News that he was walking outside the center just before the shooting when he saw a man hiding behind a Dumpster outside the center. The man then pulled out a gun and shot through the window.

"Next thing you know, shots fired. Seven shots from a .45. Loud, bam, bam, bam, bam. At a church event too. That's the crucial part," Cruickshank said.

Cruickshank said the shooter appeared to be specifically targeting Drott. The suspect then fled to a waiting Jeep with other people inside and sped away from the scene, they said.

Police say the killer fired up to eight times through the window.

Officers arrested the suspected gunman and two other suspects a few blocks from the crime scene. All three are scheduled to appear in court on Monday. Their names have not been released.

The incident apparently started in a mini-market across the street from the community center earlier in the day, said a police spokesman. Officers said Drott got into some kind of argument with the gunman or one of his friends. The suspect returned later and shot Drott.

"It boiled over to such a point where obviously this guy took out a gun and shot Shiloh," said Dave Newton of the Pacific Police Department.

But Drott's dad, Roy, thinks the gunman was aiming for two other kids and shot his son instead. He says his son never looked for trouble.

"He loved basketball. He loved classic cars. Music. He had lots of friends," Roy Drott said.

"Doesn't make sense to any of us," said his mother, Melissa Monroe.

The city of Pacific will have grief counselors talk with the dozens of children who watched a man murdered before their eyes.

Investigators say they have recovered the murder weapon. And they have video from a surveillance camera outside the community center.