Slaying of Army veteran shocks friends (Man gunned down at Costco over Concealed Carry)

Las Vegas Review-Journal ^ | 6/12/2010 | Lawrence Mower

[conimbricenses]

The man shot by police outside a Summerlin Costco store on Saturday was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a master's degree from Duke University, friends said.

Army veteran Erik Scott, 39, was at the store near Charleston Boulevard and the Las Vegas Beltway with his girlfriend before three officers fatally shot him in a confrontation.

[Teflonic]

I hope justice is served in this case but the veteran made a rookie mistake by allowing his concealed weapon to be seen. Concealed carry to me means never letting anyone have even a clue that I’m carrying.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Very right. Plus, concealed means CONCEALED.

[The Comedian]

I’m not up on NV laws, but in NM if it’s posted no firearms, or a representative of the business tells you no firearms, having a CCW doesn’t matter. You leave you piece outside.

Or be summarily executed, apparently.

Violating a retail "policy" entitles the manager to ask you to leave, not have you shot by goons.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[panthermom]

Another eye witness acct from your link:

My wife and I were 7 or 8 feet away from the shooting as were the police. We were to the suspects immediate right. We heard and saw the 3 police officers shouting to the man in question to ‘get on your knees’ several times. At that point the man appeared somewhat stunned by the commotion and shouting of the police. His Right arm went up in a defenseless position and it appeared his left arm appeared to be going up but there was NO gun in his hand. He was taserd and shot at the same time. At no time did the man in question ever raise his voice, shout an obscenity or become confrontational with the police. We saw the disabled man stooping to his right facing us with what appeared to be a bullet wound in his upper chest with blood coming from the wound and immediately his eyes became glossy as he began to convulse. At this point he was no threat to anyone, both hands were in full view of us and there was no gun. As he was down, the police continued to shout ‘put the gun down’ several times...but there was no gun in his hand as we had full vantage point view. The injured man was having agonal respirations, he was down when the second volly of bullets rang out. There was no doubt in question that following the second barrage of bullets the man was dead. His girlfriend was to the back side of us and began to scream.....why did you kill him, he is a military man with a license to carry a concealed weapon. You didn’t need to kill him....you didn’t need to kill him.

An officer then came up to the injured man who in my opinion was a ‘dead’ man’, was cuffed with his hands behind his back and no attempt by the officer to determine if the man was alive or dead. No apparent life saving aid was given to the ‘downed’ man. The man was totally lifeless when the Paramedics arrived on scene. I was absolutely surprised to see that no attempt at aggressive ACLS was engaged. They simply just picked up the body like a ‘sack of potatoes’ and hurled him onto the gurney and into the ambulance This was a crime scene.... the crime scene was violated. One of the paramedics who attended to an injured elderly lady said the man was dead. There was a dead man in front of Costco. What nobody is talking about is that there were many many spectators, many like ourselves within just a few feet of the victim when the shots rang out. It seems to me that the greater danger was posed not by the victim but by the police who fired many shots in the vicinity of the innocent public. I agree with you, I hope the media and your friends family can get their hands of Costco’s Camera’s which will indeed tell the rest of the story. Also it must be confirmed whether the second gun supposedly found by the victims side was indeed also registered to him as a licensed conceal and carry.

This whole incident was a monumental tragedy; a tragedy for the family and friend and also a tragedy for the involved officers who were pushed into a needless confrontation that reached hysterical proportions due to the overreaction of certain employees and bystanders. This was a needless death.

In summary it is our opinion that the victim did not pose an immediate threat to the public.....and in the final analysis was a case of excessive force

[cpdiii]

Good Advice. I have been stopped a couple of times in the last ten years and when this occurs I presented them with my drivers license and concealed carry. When the DPS trooper comes to my car I will aways have my hands on the dash and tell him immediately that I am armed and where the weapon is. Without exception I have been treated with respect and courtesy by the Texas State Troopers.

What the hell is wrong with the police in Las Vegas?

[TheThirdRuffian]

“I grew up in West Texas and South Louisiana, in the 60s. Often I would take my shotgun to school in my pickup as we could hunt after school was out. I was not an exception and this was normal amongst the kids that hunted. The thought of using a weapon in an illegal manner never even crossed our minds. I did not even lock the door of my pickup.”

See my Post 60 about cop over-reaction last week in West Texas.

[Finny]

Cops do themselves no service by covering for the idiots among them.

Amen. The worst thing about bad cops is that a bad cop has exponentially bad consequences -- i.e., a bad cop on a power trip makes criminals out of regular folks and fear, anger, and cynicism in the pubic against ALL cops.

[old school]

My sentiments exactly! The consensus, on this thread, appears to be that homicidal cops lie in wait for valiant citizens to assert their rights in order to wantonly gun-them-down. I say, reach-down, grab-a-hold of yourselves and end this whiney hysteria, which defies logic!

[MarkeyD]

Grew up in the seventies. I remember seeing a kid carrying a gun (rifle) down the hallway one day. Didn’t think a thing about it. He was going to use it as a prop for speech class.

[MrB]

Let me guess - all of the cops’ badge numbers are “000000” and they are not identifiable on video tape.

As a matter of fact, it’s probably illegal for any tapes of any agents of law enforcement to be released to the public.

Every officer that fired needs to spend some time in a penitentiary for murder.

[School of Rational Thought]

“The other report I heard from a witness of the event, was he just walked out, got shouted at to “drop it” and when he made a move to get the gun out of the holster so he could drop it they opened up on him.” My CHL instructor told us (and it’s firmly embedded in my muscle memory) never to “surrender the weapon” to LE, but to put hands on head and say, “it’s in a holster on my right hip (or wherever). You may retrieve it.” If in a vehicle (we have to show CHL whenever asked for ID in Texas) and LE asks us to give up the weapon, we’re to say, “No, but I’ll step out of the vehicle and you may retrieve it”, since the partner is likely behind the vehicle and may misinterpret our picking up the weapon.

VALUABLE POST Following this procedure does not come natural because we usually don't think of ourselves as dangerous people like the cop does. This was driven home to me last week when I was stopped by a cop. Apparently I was walking in an area that he thougth suspicious. Cop asks for my ID and I reach into my backpack! And it was rare occasion that I was not carrying. And if I were, my firearm would have probably been in that pack. Luckily the cop was no more alert than I was. After separation I just shuddered to think how stupid a move that was. I have had enough advanced carry courses to know better and am I NRA instructor for petes sake. When I read the article about being a "safety nut" that is the way people would describe me, but anyone at any time can lapse.

[I cannot think of a name]

Major mistake Number 1

“while shopping at Costco”

That dipsh@t place has never gotten a dime of my money and never will (check into their campaign contributions sometime). When they are the last place on earth to shop, I'll be living in the woods.

[TheThirdRuffian]

Costco is owned by Soros in no small part.

[Responsibility2nd]

I read this eye-witness account and I see this happened in Vegas.

I can only imagine one thing: This was a contract hit.

[coon2000]

bump

[sanjoaquinvalley]

I brought a couple of guns to elementary school for show and tell. Didn’t worry my parents, the teacher or kids one bit.

[VRWCmember]

There are more civilians killed by cops every year than cops that are killed by civilians.

Does your definition of "civilian" include criminals who are not part of the military or any other government employement? I'm curious because for the most part non-criminal civilians don't kill cops at all so the statement would seem axiomatic.

[humblegunner]

The sad thing is that everything we know about this guy suggests that he is the MODEL type of citizen that we should want to have a concealed carry license - army veteran, highly trained West Point grad, upstanding citizen.

So, the rest of us non-West Point grads should just lay down and die?

Never touch a weapon because we are unworthy?

[LexRex in TN]

Rural North Carolina in the 70’s here....same scenario—as a matter of fact, I remember taking the principal to my car to show him my rifle...and then he took me to his to do the same thing!!

[Finny]

So unless I misinterpreted your post, it's "Nevermind the facts. The cops are always right. And if you think they're wrong it's because you're a whining hystical pussy."

My wise, law-abiding, productive, independent-minded, self-reliant folks told me a long time ago: Many times, the only difference between a cop and a criminal is the uniform.

At least 10 years later, I was arrested by a cop who tore his own uniform and blamed it on me in order to get sympathy from the judge. The judge must have already known this guy was a bad apple, because he didn't buy it and knew that my perplexed surprise at the question, "When did you tear his uniform?" was genuine.

Bad cops are WORSE than criminals. I think that these cops need to go to jail at the very least. Frankly, I find myself hoping somebody shoots the bastards.