BB gun caused lockdown at Portland Art Museum

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The man accused of sparking a lockdown Sunday afternoon at the Portland Art Museum made his first appearance in a Multnomah County court on Monday.

Moises Vasquez allegedly had a gun in a parking lot near the art museum. He was quickly arrested and it turned out the gun in question was a BB gun.

The incident led museum officials to put the lockdown in place, keeping dozens of people inside looking at the new exhibit of Paul McCartney photographs.

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Visitors who spoke with KOIN 6 News said they were held inside for about 20 minutes.

“We were about halfway through the exhibit, and an announcement came over the loudspeaker, which was hard to understand because the museum was really crowded,” visitor Denise Weston said. “We did get one word at the end, and that was ‘locked down.’ Everybody’s kind of looking round going, ‘What?’ So, then we kept looking at the art because, you know, locked down.”

After the lock down was lifted, art museum officials ushered the guests out through the loading dock in the back instead of the front entrance.

Vasquez, 45, was released two days before this incident on a separate menacing charge. On Monday he pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct, menacing and theft for allegedly stealing a cell phone.

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