PORTLAND, Ore. — On Wednesday night, family and friends of Tyrone Lee Johnson II, 33, held a vigil to honor his memory at the edge of the Mall 205 parking lot, in the very spot where he was shot and killed a week prior.
"This was not deserved," said his mother, Tonya Portis. "He didn't deserve this. He was human. They took a human life."
Portis said the family still seeks answers, after Johnson was shot and killed by Portland Police around 3:30 p.m. on December 27.
According to the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), three officers used deadly force after "a confrontation" with Johnson, but declined to elaborate further on what that confrontation entailed.
Surveillance video obtained by KGW from a nearby business showed him running through the parking lot that afternoon as patrol cars arrived on scene.
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Investigators said they initially received reports that a suspect in a previous robbery was shoplifting at the Mall 205 Target store. Members of PPB's Focused Intervention Team responded alongside East Precinct officers. Johnson had an active arrest warrant, the agency said.
Detectives released a black-and-white photo of a firearm recovered on scene, but they still have not said whether Johnson displayed the gun, or even fired it.
"They go through all this training. Where was the training?" asked Portis. "Where were the rubber bullets? Where was the taser? Where was the non-lethal stuff? Why did you have to automatically just pull out your gun and start shooting my son?"
Johnson went down, and PPB said that officers requested help from paramedics. As more first responders arrived on the scene, PPB said that officers approached Johnson and confirmed that he was dead.
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A week after his death, loved ones lit candles in his memory, remembering a man who "wasn't perfect" but was "a loving kid."
"It ain't perfect. Nobody's perfect; nobody's perfect. Everybody messes up here and there," said Johnson's sister, Cassandra, "I don't know ... it's just not making sense about my brother."
"My son deserves peace and respect," said Portis, "He was a child, and he's always gonna be my child regardless if he's here or not."
Portland police have not yet released the names of the officers involved. At this time, they remain on administrative leave, as the investigation continues.