A Portland police officer shot Hurtado, 35, outside Hotel Vintage on Southwest Broadway on Thursday afternoon after reports that he had stabbed two people with a box cutter. A witness said Hurtado charged at an officer with the knife. Police said they recovered a box cutter with a broken blade.

The two people who were stabbed suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said. One was an employee of nearby St. Honoré Boulangerie who was wounded in the neck and shoulder; the other was seen bleeding from the head.

Hurtado’s relatives traveled from Southern California to Portland after learning of his death. At a Sunday gathering near the scene, his mother, Noemi Aderley, said the family wanted a clearer account of the shooting and whether the level of force used was necessary.

“We just want clarity, answers,” Aderley said. She added that the family understood officers may have felt threatened, but wanted to know whether alternatives to lethal force were possible.

Relatives said Hurtado had become increasingly paranoid and was making claims they believed were disconnected from reality. His sister, Alexis Hurtado, recalled him saying, “I feel like everybody’s against me, like they’re after me.” The family believes his mental health struggles may have influenced what happened, but said he had not been violent in the past. They had feared he might hurt himself.

Hurtado had been released from state prison in Salem about two months earlier, after serving a two-year sentence for delivering 8.8 grams of fentanyl within 1,000 feet of a school, according to court records. He was living at the Shoreline Apartments on West Burnside Street and was under post-prison supervision, his family said.

His relatives had contacted his supervision officer about moving him to Yucca Valley, California, where family members could support him and seek treatment. They said they were told transferring his supervision across state lines could take several months. Hurtado had moved to Oregon about three years earlier and had made connections through Narcotics Anonymous, the family said.

Aderley last spoke with her son Tuesday. She was trying to book him a flight home for Oct. 22 and said she had urged him to hold on until she could bring him back and get him into treatment.

Hurtado grew up in Yucca Valley, the youngest of four siblings, and had worked in retail, as a barista and at a grocery store. He had a 15-year-old son who lives in Tennessee. His family described him as funny and lively when well, with a love of dancing, guitar and singing.

On Sunday, relatives placed candles, flowers and a framed photo montage near Hotel Vintage. Their memorial message said Hurtado was more than the final moments of his life and deserved a chance to receive help. His sister said the memorial was not meant to diminish the harm done to the people he stabbed.

Police Chief Bob Day, who visited businesses affected by the violence late last week, described Hurtado’s death as “a failure” for the community, saying multiple systems had to fail for events to reach that point.

Hurtado’s family said authorities identified him through fingerprints and tattoos. They said they hope to learn more about the circumstances of the shooting and to remember him as a son, brother and father, not only as the person involved in Thursday’s violence.