24y/o f with left knee pain. when i go down stairs/hills, keep it bent for 3 mins or so and at night i get random shooting pains that move up my thigh?

Knee Cap: Knee pain is very common. The symptoms you describe on the surface sound like patellofemoral syndrome. This can have many causes. Some if which include improper muscle activation, misalignment of the knee cap, or poor biomechanics. The sharp pain in the thigh is not part of this process. I would recommend evaluation by a sports medicine specialist.