PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A grand jury has indicted a man after a fatal shooting in a Lowe’s parking lot in May, District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced Thursday.
The grand jury indicted 28 year old Logan Gimbel on multiple charges including second-degree murder, endangering another person, and unlawful use of mace.
Gimbel was indicted for the murder of 49 year old Freddy Nelson after he was shot and killed on May 29 in Portland’s East Columbia neighborhood when Gimbel was on-duty as an armed security guard hired to patrol businesses in the Delta Park area.
Nelson’s family filed a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit, saying Gimble wasn’t certified with the State of Oregon and should not have been carrying a gun.
The attorney for Nelson’s family, Tom D’Amore, said the 49-year-old was with his wife, Kari Nelson, when he was shot. D’Amore said Kari Nelson had gotten out of their truck and was walking toward the Lowe’s garden center when, for some reason, security guard Logan Gimbel blocked their truck with his vehicle.
“He had them pinned in there, there wasn’t anywhere to go,” said D’Amore.
At some point, Kari Nelson got back into the truck and Gimbel allegedly told Freddy Nelson he was going to “arrest him” and deployed pepper spray or mace through a window.
“He was busy walking around the driver’s side, spraying mace into the car,” said D’Amore.
The lawsuit then alleges that Gimbel opened fire, killing Freddy Nelson. D’Amore said the death has been hard on the family, particularly for the couple’s two sons and Kari Nelson, who witnessed it.
“Just the fright of yourself being right next to a person that’s being shot four times, three times in the chest,” said D’Amore. “Just that horror of it, but when you know it’s your husband that’s been killed by this person, it’s incredible.”
“My thoughts are with Freddy Nelson’s family in the wake of this tragedy. We will work to prevent anything like this from happening again,” Schmidt said.
In Schmidt’s press release announcing the indictments, Senator Prozanski noted “this case is not only devastating to the victim’s family, but it also fortifies the need to review the current level of de-escalation training and tactical engagement that private security personnel receives to obtain their certification or license. We must make sure that the private security sector adheres to modern best practices of de-escalation and tactical engagement.”