I am not aware of any new developments on this since it happened. I did a search (keyword: las vegas) and came up with no threads on it here. I would have thought it would be a topic of discussion here.

I wonder how the investigation is going and if any video evidence has been brought to light.

I did a search on "costco shooting" and got a page of places to go.

Coming up is the coroners inquest.

I hadn't heard about it until I read this thread. I read three internet news articles about it. All I can say is, wow. Sounds like everyone involved screwed up, but with so many conflicting witness accounts, I'll withhold final judgment. I just hope the inquest process isn't as screwed up as some seem to think.

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Insert short witty words here

I think there was a thread running on it over on the sigforum.com. You might go there and see if you can find it in their lounge.

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Dick Burg

I read something about it on either this board or Sig Forum but,don't remember which one and do not remember any details. Seems like it happened a couple of week ago.

Cops (LVPD) are saying "He pointed a gun at us "

The inquest system in this county is just as screwed as many others are in the US and around the world. Coroners are gods in their domain, and they can decide on who and what evidence is heard. There are no rights to representation of the decedent's family be it a police shooting, homeowners vs home invader or a car wreck. There is absolutely NO way of "cross-examining" a witness once the "hearing master" has asked his/her questions. Perhaps some of the legal eagles on here can comment on these "features". Oh, and if you think they are autocratic here, try a coroner's inquest in England.

As for the incident itself, there are conflicting statements as to whether the gun cleared the holster, if we believe the local papers. However, the most telling comment for me came from a friend of a friend who was there at the time. He reckoned that had his wife called him at the moment he left the store, and in reflex he had reached for his cellphone, he would also be dead. LV Metro seem to be taking a "confront to control" rather than a "contain to control" tactic whenever an incident with a weapon is in progress. They do not appear to establish good cover or concealment with a firmly established perimeter. I suspect they have been trained that way to save time and money, quite bluntly.

There is little conflict in the accounts as to what started all this, namely the guy was pulling out a load of water bottles from their packaging to test fit them in a backpack. He did this without consultation with the store staff, so as far as they were concerned he was trashing the place. How the store staff knew he had a firearm has not been made clear. Either he "printed" or flashed the gun accidentally due to what he was doing, or he flashed the gun when challenged by the store staff as to his actions. If the latter, he is well out of line by Nevada statutes as you do not have to get the gun out of the holster to be considered brandishing. The Costco staff were also telling anyone who would listen that guns are banned in their store, but it is not posted at the entrances. I suspect the restriction applied only to them, the staff, not the customers. Certainly in NV law that could be the case. No posting, no ban applies to the customers.

What is for sure is that this case is unlikely to go away quietly. The family are clearly deeply suspicious of the events as reported by Metro and from what I understand have the available resources to go after Metro if they do not get "satisfaction" at the inquest.

What is not going in Metro's favour are reports like this from the local TV stations:

The media are certainly stoking the fires.

Then there was this one....five days after the shooting:

Now, technical issue could simply be that the video is not readable by anything possessed by Metro. But I guarantee that if the store surveillance is declared blank, the fur will be flying. Unusually for this city, they have not released the 911 tapes. either. The inquest is set for 3 September, so maybe then we shall get the full story.

Would like to hear the "911" call.

The articles I read seemed to imply just the opposite: The property owner can banish firearms from the premises WITHOUT posting on the door. That seemed a little awkward to me, as you cannot live by the rules if the rules aren't provided for you. Maybe it was the anti-gun bias of the writers that led me to that conclusion. Nah. I'm sure news reporters would never let their bias slip into a story.

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Insert short witty words here

Erik Scott, West Point grad, former US Army tank commander, Masters Degree from Duke business.
A tragic event no matter which way this goes.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/man-who-die...-99154859.html

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Sure you did

The family have posted a bunch of electronic billboards around town seeking witnesses. See attached picture.

Man who died in police shooting remembered on billboards - News - ReviewJournal.com

Check out the details of jury inquests in this county. Some of the non-comments are priceless.

ACLU Questions Coroner's Inquest Process - Las Vegas News Story - KVVU Las Vegas

Attached Images

ScottBB01.jpg (9.1 KB, 30 views)

Sounds like the Las Vegas policy is a licence to kill.

The coroner's inquest has been indefinitely delayed and per this article he was shot 5 times in the back while on the ground.

LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Witness list delays inquest - News - ReviewJournal.com

I'm still waiting for the video as well as the recording of the 911 call.

I'm really bothered by some of the comments in the LV paper -

Has any info about the LEO's involved been released? I'd be interested in age and experience.

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Old paratrooper in NC

Officer Mosher is quite the veteran at these events.

Officer Involved in Costco Shooting Involved in 2006 Shooting - KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las Vegas

In case some of you are still wondering why the inquest system in this county is treated with so much suspicion:

1) The process is totally controlled by the DA's office.
2) Only the DA's office chooses witnesses.
3) The list of potential witnesses even to police shootings is provided by the police department.
4) There is no cross-examination of witnesses, only the DA or his appointee (the Hearing Master) may ask questions.
5) When the Clark County Commission attempted to reform the inquest system, the local police union made it very clear that there would be no further participation by their members. You get "I take the Fifth" on a good day.

I have no problem with an inquest system that can exonerate officers and citizens on the grounds of justifiable homicide. What I cannot stomach is that the whole process is controlled by the law enforcement apparatus of Clark County. It needs to be entirely independent, or at least under the umbrella of the NV State AG.

I thought this stunk from the beginning. It's really starting to reek now.

Apparently, the video of the shooting was "accidently" deleted. LVMPD has sent the video to California for "recovery".

LVMPD has been involved in a slew of controversial shootings. The Clark County Coroner's Inquest process is completely biased toward the police. The ultimate problem I see is that there is no citizen police review board, which I've seen in a lot of jurisdictions.

The Las Vegas Sheriff, Douglas Gillespie, is a massive gun controller. He has single handedly kept the Clark County gun registration program in place. The only reason we have concealed carry in Clark County is because Nevada is a "shall issue" state.

There have been many incidents in Las Vegas with concealed carry holders getting harassed by LVMPD. It's clear that this Sheriff has trained the officers to view the mere posession of a firearm as a crime. I think his ultimate goal is to discourage as many people as possible from exercising their Second Amendment rights.

In this case, his tendency to bring left wing politics into a non-partisan office finally got someone killed.

The police have a tough job. I understand that, but when LVMPD announced that the video of the incident had been deleted it was too much for me.

Having been on the receiving end of multiple commands by more than one officer, and not having done anything at the time, it is easy to understand how something of this sort can get out of hand.

I just do not believe the 2 officers being " 2 year VETERANS" of
the L.V.pd could not have played a crutial role in this shooting.
Are you really a veteran of anything after only 2 years?

"Shot 5 times in the back" If this is true ,this is just not right.

God rest Erik Scott and grant strength to his family to see them through
this.

Only my non copyrighted opinion,

Allen

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NRA cert.instructor&R.S.O.

A couple of months ago we had a felony stop out in front of the house. Because there were so many blue lights flashing in the windows, we got up to watch. The poor stiff had 5 cruisers there for his arrest. And some were 2 man cars. All kinds of firepower aimed at him, and he was getting conflicting commands. So he just froze. My wife even asked what you should do when that happens. I told her what the guy was doing. Nothing. Anything you do under those circumstances can be interpreted as being wrong.

What shocked me was there were supervisors present, and none of them took control. Lucky we were off to the side. If the shooting had started, they'd be taking fire from the other end of the car.

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Dick Burg

The question of do you even hear the commands properly when multiple officers are screaming at you often accompanied by sirens was raised at work. Add in nighttime and multiple flashing lights and the phrase "sensory overload" springs to mind. Just for clarity, none of these factors other than multiple officers apply in the Erik Scott case.

However, if you want an idea how hard it is to even get an "excusable" verdict from a Las Vegas jury, check out the Trevon Cole case. Just Google his name and the word inquest and stand back. The Las Vegas Review Journal has half believable write ups on the 20th and 21st of August. Also check out the JOHN L. SMITH column on the 24th.

Note that the jury felt that the officer was justified pretty much wholly on his testimony. IMHO, they did not take into account the poor intel that linked the victim's name to that of a very violent Houston criminal, and the fact that the officer's light gave out as he entered a pitch black apartment but he continued regardless. Add in some rather ineffectual jury direction, and this is what we get.

The Erik Scott inquest has been set for 22-24 September.

I could very well be wrong but here is my considered opinion on all of this:

The LVPD sent three trigger happy punks to the scene resulting in the murder of an exemplary citizen. How can you justify five rounds to the back after he is down?

The ensuing obvious cover up indicates to me that these three are probably a representative sampling of the LVPD. I do not believe for one second that Costco's video surveillance, both indoor and outdoor, was compromised before it fell into the hands of the LVPD. If that video evidence exonerated the police then it would have been on the evening news of that day.

Obviously I do not trust the LVPD to do an honest investigation. If they can't find witnesses to back their side then they will probably get some witnesses of their own that were not even there.

Other accounts of the LVPD that I have read have helped lead me to this conclusion. I am not trying to be incendiary here, but this is my gut feeling and, again, I could be mistaken.

could be worse ... the shooting might not have been reported at all.
Im so glad I moved

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it just needs more voltage

After I retired in from the Navy in 1992 I had interviewed with and was offered a position in the academy class for Las Vegas Metro PD. I turned it down and went a different route with my after service career choice. At times I am glad, and other not so glad.

There are a lot of good men and women employed by the LVMPD and it seems as though the recent events has cast them all in a very bad light as trigger happy thugs.

I am sorry a few bad apples have tainted the whole barrel, but, with the track record of LVMPD and there handling of officer involved shootings I can see why that has happened.

I have a gut feeling that this shooting will also be found justified, LVMPD will continue on their present course and in the end it will be forgotten about until the next non officer gets killed by the police in Las Vegas.

Until there is a general house cleaning in the upper levels of the LVMPD this type of thing will continue to happen, IMO.

bob

yeah .. a good cleaning on the top would help.
another thing would be officer evaluations to put the section eights, storm troopers, and rambos in a more fitting career of bagging groceries or reciting "do you want fries with that"
Afterall ... if there be impropriety to go along with the appearance thereof. the bad seed officers need to want to violate policy and morality before administration can have anything to rein in.

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it just needs more voltage

Inquest was completed last week. Jury found, unanimously, that shooting was "justified."

Some interesting facts were presented. Bad guy had "near fatal" doses of drugs in his system. He had a history of drug abuse.

He was commiting at least one felony at the time of the shooting.

He did pull a Kimber (holstered) from his waistband and pointed the gun and holster at the officer(s.)

There are some tragic elements to this story. Regardless, the shooting was justified.

Be safe.

There is a thread on 1911.com that has been running a while.

Several posters over there want to discount the fact that the guy was carrying a load of drugs in his system. He supposedly had Xanax, morphine, and several others in him. The ME reported, as Th Big D said, the drugs in him were enough to be "potentially fatal." The argument was that someone accustomed to taking pain-killers builds a tolerance, and the drugs don't affect judgement, motor skills, etc.

Sorry, I ain't buying.

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Georgia On My Mind

There is a lot that I do not buy that is posted in the media. Yet as with any drug, the human system does buuild up a tolerance to stimulants. With cocaine, the first hit causes an extreme high. The second does not reach the amount of the first high so it takes more to get to the same level.

It is the same with alcohol. A person unaccustomed to drinking will become somewhat more intoxicated with fewer drinks, although the BAC will not be as great. The more often a person drinks, the more accustomed to the alcohol the person becomes. I have seen people more than twice the legal limit and be functioning totally normal. I know people that drive better drunk than sober because intoxicated is a normal state for their system. When sober, they are really going into shock because their system is in an unusual state.

The same with drugs. Many years ago we had a man on a drug called Crank. He was tossing officers in the air and threw one deputy off a second floor balcony. He died from gun shot wounds and his autopsy showed he had a lethal amount of the drug in his system that would have killed the average person but his system had became tolerant of the drug as being a normal condition.

Just another reason to not legalize drugs. One hit becomes two and two then becomes three. Alcohol is a bad enough problem. We do not need to make drugs legal.

There are always two sides of the coin! I have always been amazed that when the first people always post a sensational story almost everyone takes up their side!
Its like who you listen to first wins! I have seen this forever when I was younger and in the dateing game. A woman will tell you what a beast their ex was and haveing you belive it. Than again at some bar some guy will be telling you about his witch ex wife, and again, most will belive him! Once in awhile later you find out they were married to each other!

THAT is murder ,murder.in anyone's book..their is no excuse for it.

He was shot five times from behind, twice from the front, according to the autopsy report.

If someone is pointing a gun at your partner and you light him up from behind its not murder, its excellent judgement.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

One shot or seven, once the ball opens I doubt we are talking but three secounds differance.

Evidence About Scott Fair Game, But Police Get Pass
Sheriff: Police drug test policy 'under review' in wake of Scott case - News - ReviewJournal.com

Company Warns Against Protests On Private Property
Costco Releases Statement On Scott Shooting - Las Vegas News Story - KVVU Las Vegas

Costco’s Statement
Costco Statement On Death Of Erik Scott - Las Vegas News Story - KVVU Las Vegas

The inquest was broadcast live here in Las Vegas. After the toxicology report I told my wife there was little point in watching any more. Short of there being video of two cops holding him down while a third capped him, the puritanical juries here (yes, even in Las Vegas) will ALWAYS find in favour of Metro if there is anything more than Tylenol present.

On the subject of video, I do not think it was ever satisfactorily explained what happened to the video from the store. Mind you, neither my wife or I had the patience to sit through the whole inquest while attorneys attempted to get expert witnesses to go WAAAY beyond the facts they could honestly report. Pretty pathetic.

From what I saw of the inquest and the statements from others who were at Costco but not called as witnesses I still say that the shooting was at best excusable. I still do not buy justified on the basis that the control by confrontation tactics were not necessary.

This post by LVSteve is reasonable, but why do some people always seem to side with the bad guys in LEO shootings but will side with armed citizens, always, when they kill someone for mere property crimes?

Be safe.

I aint a expert on this, but here is another angle I have gleaned from reading a lot of police shootings. It seems that when more officers than one are involved one officer shoots first and then the others will open up by reaction alone. Maybe its kind of like what did he see that I didnt? And reaction takes over. Like one person yells fire in a movie theater and everyone panics and runs, and there is no fire!