Security guard who wasn't authorized to carry a gun, kills Freddy Nelson Jr. in Lowe's parking lot

Freddy T. Nelson Jr. and his wife had gone to the Lowe’s Home Center off North Hayden Meadows Drive to buy some materials for a remodeling project.

Nelson, 49, parked his truck in the lot near the garden center and gathered some of his belongings, while his wife, Kari Nelson, walked to the garden center to look at flowers, according to the family’s lawyer.

Nelson never made it into the store that day, May 29.

A private security guard who was never authorized to carry a gun on the job shot Nelson in his truck, state records show.

Different accounts have emerged of what led up to the shooting, among a record number of 71 homicides so far this year in Portland, exceeding 70 in 1987.

Logan C. Gimbel, the security guard who was patrolling the Delta Shopping Center, has claimed the shooting was in self-defense. He hasn’t been charged in the shooting.

Tom D’Amore, the Nelson family’s lawyer, said Freddy Nelson was still at his truck when Gimbel pulled up perpendicular to it, blocking Nelson from leaving the parking space.

Gimbel told Nelson that he was under arrest, but Nelson argued that the guard had no authority to arrest him, D’Amore said.

Security officials at the property had put out a “be on the lookout” order for Nelson and would harass or intimidate him when he was seen, D’Amore said. It’s not clear what led to such an order.

Nelson’s wife heard an argument at the truck and returned to it.

According to the lawyer, Freddy Nelson told Gimbel that he was leaving and the couple got into the truck and locked their doors.

Gimbel tried to open the driver’s door and when he couldn’t, he pushed a bottle of pepper spray through a cracked back window on the truck’s driver side and sprayed inside, according to D’Amore.

The guard then walked in front of the truck, raised his pistol and ordered the couple not to move, the lawyer said.

Moments later, Gimbel fired four shots.

He struck Freddy Nelson three times in the head and chest, killing him as his wife sat beside him in the front seat, D’Amore said.

Freddy T. Nelson Jr. was shot and killed as he was seated in his truck with his wife sitting next to him, according to his family's lawyer.

Gimbel, who worked for the Cornerstone Security Group, wasn’t certified to carry a gun while working security, according to records with the state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.

Gimbel said he had received armed security training and sent an application to the agency for the armed certification, according to the records. But the department indicated that it never got the application and that it was Gimbel’s responsibility to follow up, the records showed.

The agency moved to revoke his unarmed private security certification for having a gun on the job without proper certification and using deadly force with the gun while working.

Gimbel instead surrendered his unarmed private security certification on June 22.

Matthew Cady, one of the owners of Cornerstone, told the state agency that Gimbel was wearing a body camera at the time of the shooting that the company turned over to the Police Bureau.

According to Cady, Gimbel had prior problems with Nelson.

On the night of the shooting, Nelson acted as if he was going to run over the guard with his car, Cady said.

Gimbel warned Nelson to stop, but he continued and Gimbel fired, according to Cady.

After the shooting, Cornerstone Security Group told the state that two other security guards who worked for the company hadn’t received their formal armed certification but were also carrying weapons.

Police have turned over their investigation to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Nelson’s family has filed a $25 million wrongful death and negligence suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court against Hayden Meadows, Cornerstone Security Group and Gimbel. Cornerstone Security Group spokesman Micah Thorner declined comment.