Posted on 07/13/2010 4:07:32 AM PDT by marktwain
LAS VEGAS -- The three Las Vegas police officers involved in Saturday's shooting at a Costco have been identified.
Officers William Mosher, Joshua Stark and Thomas Mendiola shot and killed Erik Scott at a Summerlin Costco. Officers say Scott had a weapon and pointed it at them.
Mosher has been with Metro for five years. Stark and Mendiola have been with Metro for under two years. All are assigned to the Metro's Northwest Area Command.
This isn't the first time Officer Mosher has been involved in a shooting. In April of 2006, Officer Mosher and Officer John Wiggins shot and killed Aaron Jones. According to police, Jones rammed his car into Wiggins while trying to escape arrest. Jones died at the scene.
A coroner's inquest into the 2006 shooting found Officers Mosher and Wiggins justified.
Police say they were called to the scene of Saturday's shooting when Scott started damaging store merchandise and had a gun visible inside the store. When officers arrived, people were leaving the store and an employee pointed out Scott to police.
Police say officers saw Scott's weapon and told him to lay down on the ground. They say he pulled the gun out at pointed it at an officer. That's when police opened fire.
Emergency workers transported Scott to UMC, but he died a short time later. A second gun was found on Scott during transport.
But Scott's attorney contradicts what police say happened. Attorney Ross Goodman, son of Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, says Scott did not point his gun at police or act in a threatening manner. He says eyewitnesses have reached out to him contradicting Metro's story. He is still waiting to see surveillance video of the incident.
The three officers involved in Saturday's shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a coroner's inquest.
“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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This looks bad for the cops.I would bet there is video of all that went on.Prayers for the family of the slain man.
Looks like the comments section has mow been scrubbed.
The guy was damaging/rampaging in the store and had an exposed gun, creating panic to the people around. Did he think he was OK to leave the store and nothing? The suspect had very little leeway of not following immediate instruction by the police. It was just yesterday that a person went inside a busines in New Mexico and shot several people. It is easy to monday morning quarterback the police.
“Looks like the comments section has mow been scrubbed.”
I just looked at the link on the comment, and was able to see them.
“The guy was damaging/rampaging in the store and had an exposed gun, creating panic to the people around.”
You mean the people that were calmly exiting the store standing within a few feet of him?
If I saw a guy doing what you say I sure wouldn’t be calmly standing beside him.
“The suspect had very little leeway of not following immediate instruction by the police. “
Yep, it was bang, taze, ‘drop it’, bang bang.
It’s easy for you to be a cop cheerleader. Read the comments above and quit taking the police side of the story.
Time to loot Footlocker again.
Oh wait...
You may want to wait and see exactly what happened.The victum was not a thug from all accounts.
Gotta run, Have a good one.
The fact is, there is a certain percentage of cops who are scum. Maybe 1%, maybe 2%. It doesn’t mean the rest are. But also just don’t **** with cops. They have been called to a man with a gun. They ask the man to get on the floor, and according to the eyewitness, he moved his arm instead. Now the eyewitness, from a couple of feet away, say there was no gun. How far away was the cop? 20 feet?
If a cop has been called to “guy in store waving a gun” call, and they tell you to get on the ground, I think it would be very sensible to do that.
Maybe they’re scum though.
But equally, how much should they put their life in danger? This guy moves his arm - how long should they wait to check & see whether there is no gun in it?
The “second volley of shots” is probably the most disturbing element of the story though.
I think the police need full time recording devices facing ahead of them. It would clear up tons of confusion pronto, even some fender bender disputes. With that, we could consider given them even more leeway than they currently have.
Opening a box to check the contents?
And your proof of the guy doing this was what?
So far every witness that I've read about refutes that story.
As to creating panic, that's a bullcrap excuse on the part of sissy liberal wimps. If he had a gun in his hand threatening someone or pointing it at people, I could buy “creating panic”. Having an “exposed gun”, on the other hand, suggests the “panic” was created by morons that don't like guns.
Where is the evidence of “rampaging” inside the store?
Such devices are now on the market. Personally, I think that all uniformed officers and elected officials should be required to wear and use them - as they tell us, the good ones have nothing to hide (and can be quickly cleared of bogus charges through this tech) and the bad ones will get caught.
“... and the bad ones will get caught...”
Or lie low, which is still an improvement.
This is Erik’s father:
http://www.williambscott.com/williambscott.com/Home.html
About Erik:
“His father was in the Air Force, and his grandfather fought in World War II, friend Mike Pusateri said.
“The most loyal, honest, trustworthy, salt-of-the-earth guy you could meet,” said Pusateri, 38. “You only meet one or two of those kinds of guys in your life, and Erik is one of them.”
http://www.lvrj.com/news/slaying-of-army-veteran-shocks-friends-98223884.html
My theory. The victim had a gun in a holster. A Costco employee saw it, notified management who called the cops and monitored the guy. The guy was just shopping not damaging property. The cops are waiting at the front of the store. Costco employee points out the victim. The cops start screaming at him- “Drop your gun”, “Get down on your knees”,”Hit the ground”. The victim is totally stunned and has no idea what’s going on. He either reaches for his gun to comply with the “Drop your gun” order or one of the cops just panics and shoots him. Other cops hear shots and immediately start shooting, as well. Cops then find another gun on him. The 2nd gun may be the one aspect of the case which helps exonerate the cops - or fries them. If the victim had two guns on him, a lot of people- and jurors- are gonna think, “Is this guy some kind of nut. He’s got two guns on him?” Or, the cops panicked and planted a second gun on him. I think the videotapes and the 911 recording are gonna show this poor guy was just out shopping and minding his own business. We’ll see.
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