Coroner's inquest into deadly Costco shooting delayed indefinitely(NV)

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV)- There's been a delay in the process to determine exactly what happened in a fatal police shooting in front of the Costco store in Summerlin. The Clark County District Attorney's office has requested that the coroner's inquest be postponed indefinitely.

That inquest was set for September 3rd, to determine if three officers were justified in the use of deadly force against Erik Scott. Scott was kill by police gunfire on July 10th.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger says his office asked for the delay partly because they have not yet received witness statements and reports from Metro Police. Roger also says there may be hundreds of witnesses to sift through because the shooting happened on a busy Saturday afternoon.

"There are some people who do not believe in the coroner's inquest system. We're not going to change their minds. What we are concerned about is providing a complete record to the members of the public that will choose to sit on this inquest jury," said David Roger.

Roger says police are flooded with people calling to give information. He says deciding which witnesses will be called to testify and issuing subpoenas is a process in and of itself.

"I'm sensitive to the decedents family members and their desire to have a speedy response, but we want to do our part, and we want to get it right," added Roger.

The attorney representing a grieving family is questioning the transparency of what is happening.

"We're going on our third week now since three officers shot Erik Scott, putting five bullets in his back, and we're demanding answers," said attorney Ross Goodman, representing the Scott family.

Goodman claims Scott was shot once in the chest, once in the shoulder and five times in the back. He says his biggest frustration lies in two key pieces of evidence that remain out of reach.

Thus far, Metro has refused to release the 911 tapes. Police are also saying that there may have been a glitch in Costco's surveillance system, and the cameras may have not recorded the ordeal. Metro says the hard drives have been sent to California for forensic analysis.

"We know there were four cameras outside of Costco that would've captured the shooting. We know that there was a camera within Costco, on the aisle, which would've covered allegations that Mr. Scott was acting erratically," said Goodman. "All they have to do is provide video and the tapes."

Police claim Erik Scott pointed his gun at them outside the store's entrance after destroying merchandise and acting erratically. There are reports from witnesses that dispute all of that.

"These witnesses are professionals, doctors, lawyers, very credible people, who say unequivocally, Mr. Scott wasn't posing any threat to the officers," Goodman went on to say.

Family and friends of Scott, a West Point Graduate, have said all along that he had a concealed weapons permit but never would've pointed a gun at an officer. His closest friend says this delayed inquest is only putting off closure for loved ones.

"Respect the process? What about respecting the family? I mean, there's a loss of life. What about providing the evidence to the family, so they can reviewed what happened, so they can understand what happened to their son," said Mike Pusateri, who talked with Scott through text message less than an hour before the shooting.

The Clark County District Attorney's Office says another reason for the delay is that the original inquest date was set for the day before labor day. Due to the extensive amount of witnesses, David Roger says the inquest will likely take two days, and he doesn't want proceedings split up by a holiday.

The inquest delay comes days after the family of Erik Scott begun a campaign to try and find out what really happened that Saturday afternoon when he was shot and killed by Metro officers.

Seven electronic billboards have gone up around Las Vegas asking for witnesses to come forward in the Costco shooting of Erik Scott.

Metro is not saying much about the billboards, or the shooting, except for what was said in previous interviews with Action News. All seven of the billboards are paid for by donations from friends of the Scott family.

Here is a supposed eyewitness account from a previous post:

From the comments on the channel 8 news story:
“I couldn't agree with you more....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
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