Portland police are investigating a police shooting early Sunday in downtown Portland that left a Portland man dead.

The Police Bureau has released few details about the shooting, but social media from relatives and friends of the victim are filled with "R.I.P." messages for the family of a 27-year-old man named Patrick Kimmons, known as "Pat Pat.''

The shooting occurred shortly after 3 a.m. near Southwest Third Avenue and Harvey Milk (Stark) Street.

Central Precinct officers patrolling in the area heard gunshots and "engaged'' someone and police fired shots, according to Officer Natasha Haunsperger, a police spokeswoman.

Police shot and killed a man, Haunsperger confirmed. The man killed by police had been involved in a shooting that left two other men wounded, according to police.

Haunsperger didn't say how many officers were involved. Police said they recovered a gun at the scene, and closed off several streets downtown.

An officer reported to dispatch that someone was down and bleeding from the hip area at Third and Stark, and medical was called to respond.

Later, a black Camaro dropped off two gunshot victims at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. One of the victims was wounded in the chest and went into surgery, according to police.

Dispatch of shooting starts at 10:58 mark on recording below, and picks up again at 12:59 mark:

Officers quickly called homicide detectives and police union representatives to the scene. They confirmed investigators would be looking into both an officer-involved shooting, and a civilian on civilian shooting.

Police cordoned off a parking lot on Southwest Harvey Milk Street, between 3rd and 4th Avenues, and at least five witnesses were held for questioning. A mobile police command center was stationed nearby through the day.

Friends and relatives of a Portland man have posted repeated "R.I.P'' messages on Kimmons' Facebook page. Kimmons, who had attended Jefferson High School, was a baker for Dave's Killer Bread, according to his social media page.

Police said they weren't going to identify the victim or the officers involved until Monday. Police Chief Danielle Outlaw was out of town when the police shooting occurred, but returned Sunday night.

Kimmons was the victim of a shooting in April 2014 near Northeast 122nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard that police then described as gang-related.

"Praying for strength, comfort and love for his friends, family, children and their mothers,'' Elle Avyanna Mua wrote on Facebook.

Kimmons wrote on his Facebook page in July, "Trying to work on myself as a man and also trying to raise my kids the proper way No one ever said being a parent was gonna be easy but i dedicate my time to my children because i want to teach them that they can be anything they want to in life Besides being a Stripper-Hoe,Selling Drugs,Gangbanging etc.. I have seen so much in life and and gained so much knowledge in life that i want to show them a better route to take so they can be more successful in life and not really have to struggle (.) #Family''

Kimmons had prior convictions for witness tampering in 2010, and for delivery of cocaine and possession of a firearm in 2011, and ordered to have no contact with gangs in each of those cases.

By mid-afternoon Sunday, about 40 people had quietly gathered downtown near the site of the shooting, lighting memorial candles, leaving flowers, and writing chalk tributes on the sidewalk and street. One woman, who wouldn't identify herself, said that the group planned to hold a vigil at the scene "until the candles burn down."

At SW Oak and SW 4th St now following predawn @PortlandPolice fatal shooting of a man downtown near SW 3rd /Stark after apparent civilian shooting of 2 others ( warning: graphic language) pic.twitter.com/vL7sN75IbR — Maxine Bernstein (@maxoregonian) October 1, 2018

Teressa Raiford, local organizer of 'Don't Shoot Portland,' was among those protesting the police shooting at SW 4th Avenue and Oak Street. She said she knew Kimmons since he was young. She said he had 3 children.

About 25 people were shouting at patrol officers standing behind police tape along the perimeter of the shooting scene.

Police ultimately pulled up the tape early Sunday night and left the area. Protesters, holding 'Black Lives Matter' signs, followed the police as officers retreated south on Southwest Fourth Avenue. The group then congregated at the corner nearer to the shooting location at Southwest Fourth and Harvey Milk Street.

Protesters chanting ‘Say His Name - Patrick Kimmons’ as they walk south on Sw 4th Ave after police back out pic.twitter.com/cKI141ZvIs — Maxine Bernstein (@maxoregonian) October 1, 2018

Central Precinct and Gang Enforcement Team officers, who were in the area patrolling the downtown entertainment district early Sunday, responded to the shooting, police said.

The Portland police fatal shooting comes three months after two campus officers for Portland State University fatally shot a man downtown on June 29 as he was trying to break up a fight near the Cheerful Tortoise bar just before closing time. A Multnomah County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by the campus officers involved but the shooting sparked a renewed push to disarm the university's public safety force.

-- Oregonian staff writers Jamie Hale and Rob Davis contributed to this story.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian