PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland Police confirmed that the man killed by an officer in Lents Park on Friday had a replica handgun on him.
PPB released a timeline of the event leading up to the shooting, saying they were called to Lents Park just before 9:30 a.m. on Friday. Someone called to say a man, later identified as 46-year-old Robert Douglas Delgado, was “quick drawing and holding what looked like a handgun.”
PPB also released an abridged audio recording of police radio transmissions leading up to the shooting.
“Apparently he’s acting like James Bond or a cowboy doing quickdraws with it, he’s not pointing it at anybody,” one officer is heard saying.
Cellphone video shot by David Hernandez, a bystander shows the tense moments between Delgado and officers. Two officers are pointing their guns at him from behind a tree. They are heard telling him to put his hands up.
Delgado was shot four minutes later at 9:40 a.m., by Portland Police Officer Zachary DeLong.
“Shots fired, suspect down, I can’t see him,” an officer is heard saying.
PPB has not confirmed where the replica gun was when Delgado was shot, but recordings indicate that the replica gun was in his hand and back pocket at certain points during the interaction.
Mac McKnight, who works in private security firearms training told KOIN 6 News that officers are trained not to trust the parts that typically identify a toy gun.
“There’s police training, photo show photographs of handguns carbines, et cetera, that are purposefully disguised as toys as non guns in an effort to be deceptive,” he said.”
Delgado was a father of four, and recently became a grandfather.
Family members said the tragedy has left them devastated and outraged over the actions of the Portland Police Bureau. They also feel that officers failed to quickly render aid after Delgado was shot.
“We hate hearing this news that happened to him, that shouldn’t have happened to him,” his cousin Shelby Taylor told KOIN 6 News.
But the way he died is not how the family wants to remember him, Taylor said.
While there is a memorial to honor Delgado in Lents park, his family said they are hoping to bury him in Las Vegas where his grandparents and father are also buried.
Delgado’s family also set up a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral expenses and transport.