Posted on 09/27/2010 9:40:32 AM PDT by pgyanke
Erik Scott's Death - A Father's Statement 8/30/2010
Erik's family would like to keep our class updated on what is occurring in the case of Erik's death.
Below is a statement from Erik's father, William Scott.
Please support the Scott Family by following: http://erikbscott.com Twitter: @IMOErikBscott Facebook: In Memory of Erik Scott Twitter: @IMOErikBScott YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/InMemoryofErikScott
Erik Scott's Death
Erik B. Scott, a 1994 U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduate, was shot and killed by three Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Metro) officers in front of the Summerlin Costco store on 10 July 2010. The shooting is still under investigation, but here are the basic facts, based on numerous eyewitness reports:
Erik was carrying a legally registered concealed firearm, while he and his girlfriend were shopping at Costco. He also had a concealed carry permit in his wallet, issued by the same Metro department that killed him.
When Erik squatted on the floor to verify that three metal water bottles would fit into a soft-sided, zip-up cooler, a Costco employee saw the weapon. Erik's shirt had lifted up, revealing an inside-the-belt holstered pistol tucked into the back of his jeans. A civil interchange ensued, and the employee informed Erik of Costco's policy that guns were not allowed inside company stores -- although there are no signs to that effect posted outside or inside the facility. Erik calmly responded that his gun was legal and that he had a concealed carry weapon (CCW) permit on his person. Like many other Boston Scientific pacemaker sales reps, Erik carried a concealed weapon for personal protection, because reps are required to enter dangerous areas of the city at all hours of the day and night to serve patients fitted with cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators. Contrary to wildly erroneous news reports, we don't believe Erik had a second gun on his person.
The Costco employee apparently reported to the store's manager that Erik was carrying a gun. The manager, in turn, informed a young, plainclothes security person, who subsequently placed a 911 call to the police. The contents of that 911 call have not been released, but Northwest Metro cops rushed to the store in overwhelming force. Perhaps as many as 15 police cruisers, a helicopter, an incident-command team and an ambulance were dispatched.
Costco managers announced via the PA system that the store was being evacuated. Unaware that the evacuation had anything to do with him, Erik and his girlfriend walked out with the crowd, passing three Metro officers waiting at the entrance. The Costco undercover security guard pointed to Erik, and the cops started yelling at Erik to stop and turn around.
Erik turned to find three officers facing him, guns drawn, and all three shouting different commands: "Get on the ground!" "Drop your weapon!" and "Keep your hands up!" Erik held his hands up, spoke calmly, told them he DID have a concealed firearm and a legal CCW and was an ex-Army officer. His girlfriend was screaming about Erik being a West Point grad, former Army officer, etc. Erik leaned to his left, hands still up, to expose the pistol inside his belt, and repeated, "I am disarming; I am disarming..." Witnesses say he started to lower his right hand, palm OUT, as if intending to remove holster and gun together — but never got the hand below his shoulder, when one of the cops (William Mosher, who had committed a fatal shooting in 2006) shot Erik in the chest with a .45-caliber weapon. Erik dropped to his knees, clearly in shock, his face a picture of disbelief. He was shot a second time and collapsed. The rest is ugly. The three officers unloaded again, firing a total of seven hollow-point rounds. At least five, possibly six, hit Erik in the back, after he was on the ground and dying.
The cops roughly handcuffed Erik's hands behind his back, and, in the words of an eyewitness, "tossed him onto a gurney [as if he were] a sack of potatoes."
Costco had numerous security cameras inside the store and at least four trained on the entrance portico, where the shooting took place. Metro officers immediately seized the surveillance-camera video data (computer hard disks), including backup drives. Within hours, Metro leaked "news" that the video may be "unusable," and that the hard drives had been sent to a forensics lab in Los Angeles. More than six weeks later, only Metro personnel have seen the video. Sheriff Douglas Gillespie, the Metro chief, continues to say that "there's probably no usable video" of events inside the store or of Erik's fatal shooting. He also has refused to release the 911 audio tape, even though Metro normally releases those 911 call tapes to the media within days.
There's been considerable media coverage of Erik's shooting, and many of the news reports are available on Las Vegas TV station and Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper websites. Erik's family and friends have done numerous interviews, as we search for the truth about Erik's slaying. Many people think one of our more-effective interviews was on Channel 8/KLAS TV with George Knapp of the "I-Team." (http://www.8newsnow.com/global/story.asp?s=12809131)
A Clark County Coroner's Inquest Hearing is scheduled for 22-23 September in Las Vegas. Considered to be unique in the U.S., this particular inquest process is heavily biased in favor of law enforcement personnel. A Las Vegas reporter referred to it as "police investigating police and reporting to police." In 34 years of inquests into more than 190 officer-involved shootings, only one officer has been found at fault — and he was never prosecuted.
Interested parties can follow developments in this case, as well as an "E-Team" weblog featuring commentary and insights, at: http://www.erikbscott.com
William B. Scott Erik's Father
*Note that this information was not created by USMA Class of 1994. All information was provided by the Scott Family in order to keep Erik's friends and classmates informed.*
The officers need to be charge with murder and put to death.
Scott bookmark.
Note: I apologize for some formatting issues. The posting mechanism had difficulties...
And the police wonder why law-abiding citizens grow more and more hostile towards the extortionist authorities, even during routine department fundraising stops.
I’ve had to disarm a guy, post IAF, working reserve checkpoint duty. (It’s what happen to old guys who still want to serve.)
The smartest guy I ever saw ignored our commands to drop his weapon, instead kept his hands WAY over his head, fingers spread, turned around, then slowly dropped to his knees.
(It turned out to be a Druze legally carrying a weapon.)
Sad story. One thing for sure that I know is once they said for me to get down. I would have gotten down and then definitely would NOT move to get the weapon. I would have just stayed on the ground until the situation was under control. Every weapons shooting I read has the person reaching for something. Why reach? The police said get down....that is all. Nothing about taking out the gun. Prayers to his family.
This is a horrific tragedy. Man, what is wrong with the little creeps who shot this man?
He was murdered at Cosco by three serial killers with badges. And to make sure he was dead, they fired additional shots into his back as he lay on his stomache in the process of dying.
The police said get down.
They also shouted drop your weapon. (according to the article)
They gave conflicting commands and then shot the guy for complying.
They will walk on this one.
Just to be curious, did you really command that person to touch his weapon? If so, why?
Everyone involved in the shooting and subsequent destruction of evidence needs to be indicted, tried and convicted.
Even without the video evidence, this account of what happened rings much more truthful than the reports of Erik “going on a rampage” inside the store.
From observation, it seems that police unions are among the staunchest supporters of violating the 2nd Amendment and wish to disarm the public.
If they cannot accomplish this by law, then they can accomplish it by making the penalty for gun possession so severe—via public execution by cop—that people will become too afraid to exercise their right to carry. If the sentiment is that you will be shot if you carry in public, then concealed carry will cease.
It’s ironic that the police will execute a law-abiding citizen, without trial, but protect convicted murderers in prison for life with three square meals, cable tv, and conjugal visits.
Scott’s weapon was a Kimber 1911-type gun. It had its hammer down after the shooting, which means Scott was carrying with no round in the chamber. To fire it, he would have had to pull the gun, rack the slide, and then fire.
It may be that since he was aware it was impossible to shoot his gun without several steps, he didn’t think about how a cop - not knowing what type weapon it was - would interpret an attempt to disarm. Or maybe he thought that was the simplest was to calm things down.
Could the cop legally fire as soon as he touched the weapon? Maybe. If the cop believed his life was in danger, then yes - even ‘tho Scott obviously (in retrospect) had no intent to shoot. However, a cop so spring loaded to shoot that he didn’t notice the movements were slow, or that the gun was still in its holster (the cop who started the shooting testified he didn’t know the gun was in a holster until after the shooting was over), is a cop who needs to find a new line of work.
The cop has shot 3 times in 4 years, killing 2. There is no way he has the right temperament or judgment for being a cop.
As for the other two - if you continue to fire after the guy is face down on the ground, you aren’t ready to be a cop either. Find other work until you gain some self-control and judgment.
This “account” from someone with a vested interest in the case is wildly out of step from the accounts of numerous witnesses at the Corner’s inquest.
“Just to be curious, did you really command that person to touch his weapon? If so, why?”
Yes, it was “Shows us your weapon,” and that is because that is what we were told to do.
I was a pilot for 15 years; basically a civilian pulling guard duty -— my ground training involved running away and hiding.
mark
“The police said get down.
They also shouted drop your weapon. (according to the article)
They gave conflicting commands and then shot the guy for complying.”
This should be the family attorneys opening statement....
Can you provide links to the most credible accounts? I think that would add to the thread better than a non-specific contradiction.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.