Security Guard Logan Gimbel, aged 28, shot and killed a man in broad daylight over the 2021 Memorial Day weekend at the North Portland Lowe’s. News of the incident didn’t go national until prosecutors released the guard’s body cam video after they filed murder charges against the guard.
The now-former guard is facing a second-degree murder charge and claims that the man he shot was using his truck as a deadly weapon. Indeed, an innocent person has every right to use deadly force to stop an attacker from trying to make him a hood ornament.
However, in the moments before the shooting, Gimbel’s conduct escalated into a shouting match and a trivial case of trespassing into gunfire and a homicide.
Gimbel identified the now-deceased victim, Freddy Nelson, as a trespasser at the store. Instead of calling the police to cite the man and order him to leave the property, the unlicensed “mall cop” pulled his car in front of the trespasser’s truck, partially blocking him.
“Get the f*** off my property!” was Gimbel’s opening remark to the alleged trespasser. He said that repeatedly after blocking the man in the parking space.
Gimbel barked orders to leave the property while standing in front of Freddy Nelson’s truck which was backed into a parking spot with Nelson behind the wheel. It looked as though Nelson and his wife were preparing to leave when the scenario began. But with the security guard’s car partially blocking them in, there was no way for them to leave.
“Are you refusing to leave?” the Gimbel asked the now-deceased Mr. Nelson. We can’t hear Nelson’s exact words in reply, but the guard Gimbel moved to remove Nelson from the truck physically. At that point, things quickly turned into a pepper spray battle between the two.
That’s right. The unlicensed security officer sprayed pepper spray into the pickup truck’s cab through an open rear window.
Yeah, that was the best way to de-escalate the situation.
The guard kept repeating, “I told you to leave the property!”
Indeed, it seemed as if the guard was daring Freddy Nelson to run him down. And as tempers quickly escalated, Nelson looked like he was going to do just that. That’s when Gimbel fired four rounds into Nelson through the windshield.
Here’s an NSFW video of the incident :
As if Gimbel’s professionalism — or lack thereof — wasn’t evident enough, once the threat had ceased, Gimbel made zero effort to render aid to the man. Instead, the guard stood around telling the Lowe’s manager that the man was “bleeding out” while Nelson’s wife was screaming.
This is a classic example of flipping someone the bird while driving. If that escalates into a road rage attack and you shoot the other driver who came after you moments after flipping him off and questioning his mother’s virtue, you may lose your mantle of innocence in court.
In this case, from viewing the news reports (which admittedly are often less than completely reliable) along with the surveillance and body cam footage, it surely looks like Logan Gimbel’s mantle of innocence was on shaky ground from the moment he put on that gun without the proper license that fateful day.
Furthermore, he did nothing but escalate the confrontation, which doesn’t play well with cops, prosecutors, or jurors. Let that be a lesson all of us can keep in the back of our minds.
KATU has the story . . .
According to court records, the security officer not licensed to carry a gun who fatally shot a man in a North Portland parking lot earlier this year is now facing a murder charge.
On Thursday, a Multnomah County Grand Jury indicted Logan Gimbel, 28, on second-degree murder with a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon (firearm), two counts of second-degree unlawful use of mace, and recklessly endangering another person.
According to police, Gimbel was hired as an armed security guard to patrol businesses in the Delta Park area.
At around 6:40 p.m. on May 29, 2021, police say he shot and killed 49-year-old Freddy Nelson, who was sitting inside his pickup truck in the parking lot of the Lowe’s store on North Hayden Meadows Drive.
Gimbel claimed he fired in self-defense, police records show.
Gimbel’s records with the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) show he was not licensed to carry a firearm when he fatally shot Nelson.
Another lesson for business owners or churches looking to hire security services… make sure any private security contractors hired to protect your interests are properly licensed, trained, and insured.