Posted on 09/24/2010 9:34:59 AM PDT by Mr Rogers
This comes from a Vegas paper, so I'll summarize:
Day 1 of the inquest into the police shooting of Eric Scott at a Las Vegas Costco emphasized the large amount of prescription painkillers found in his body. The assistant DA suggested Scott was suicidal.
Day 2 apparently spent a bunch of time explaining why there will be no video...basically, the machines weren't working, sorry.
Then the cop who was closest to Scott testified. In his testimony, he says the gun found by investigators was in its holster, and that he didn't realize the gun was in its holster when he shot Scott. That info comes about 2/3 of the way into the article:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/23/officer-deadly-shooting-says-man-pointed-gun-didnt/
(Excerpt) Read more at lasvegassun.com ...
Any updates for those of us who cannot get it to feed?
I can’t. My machine just can’t do it. Half the time it won’t talk to my printer and the scanner has long been disconnected. It’s breathing it’s last.
What happened? Mom call you home for dinner?
Guy now testifying that Scott said that he was drunk (to his girlfriend) as he walked in.
I have no idea if the Costco surveillance system is redundant. That is one of those unknown “facts” which those in online discussion fora don’t have access to and we do have to wait for them to come out.
What IS known is that the cops refuse to release the 9-11 call, which would demonstrate WHY the tactics which were employed were chosen, AND the surveillance evidence which would show whether or not the Costco employee accurately reported the situation and thus whether those tactics could be justified is conveniently “damaged” and unavailable.
Those are major red flags which to any reasonable person would raise questions about the credibility and integrity of this investigation, and the determined refusal of many in this discussion to acknowledge that fact is sadly ironic. Pointing them out does not make one a “cop-hater” - it’s simply an exercise in honesty.
Settle down. That’s what he said.
I became bored with your inanities, Code Orange.
Besides, after the spanking tarheelswamprat gave you, I felt bad for you.
FReeper tarheelswamprat: "As tragic and disgusting as this incident itself has been, the behavior of many on this board has been almost as reprehensible. Especially those who keep prating about “getting all the facts” yet stubbornly refuse to admit that crucial facts (the actual 9-11 call) ARE being suppressed and evidence (the surveillance video) probably destroyed."
So what...cool your jets. I reported what was said. Move along.
What's the significance of a "gun rug" versus a holster?
BTW, thanks - I learned what a "gun rug" is! I have at least one!
And I'm still tripping that the cop claims that Scott had bloodshot eyes but couldn't tell the gun was in a zippered holster?
One of us will be eating crow when the transcript comes out. The cashier (Kilackas sp?) said that that Scott said to his girlfriend that he was too drunk to be in there....AS HE WAS WALKING IN.
>>My whole career depended on my observation I’m good at it and impartial.
>
>One of us will be eating crow when the transcript comes out. The cashier (Kilackas sp?) said that that Scott said to his girlfriend that he was too drunk to be in there....AS HE WAS WALKING IN.
It could be that you are both right; the statements given could be internally inconsistent with portions referring to entrance and others referring to exit.
Not in this case. I sincerely hope there is a transcript available.
T'is a minor point in the scheme of things...
For the record, it appears that the witness was John Nikitas (sp).
Well, besides your not having a clue what CODE ORANGE means, I do ‘prate about getting all the facts’. That is so I don’t look stupid by mouthing off without having them.
Two links that have appeared that do have some light to shine on your darkness have appeared and I give them now to you so you can follow along. As the days go by, more will come out:
http://erikbscott.com/news.html
and
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/22/coroners-inquest-erik-scott/
The FBI will probably investigate this as well as a possible civil rights violation but I find it little far fetched that all these people from so many different agencies and companies are working in collusion to cover-up a murder.
What Office Mosher described when he had his weapon drawn up to his chest was a tactical ready carry for pistol. It’s not pointed at anyone, but not in the holster and only needs to be punched outward to engage a threat. Also not remembering that he gave verbal commands or what type during a critical incident is not uncommon. Many times officers (and others who have been in firearms combat)undergo a phenomenon called auditory exclusion. For example they may not hear the rounds they fired but where able to hear the shell casings striking the pavement or the slide sliding back in to battery.
They may not remember how many rounds they fired. Some officers will swear they fired ten rounds but fired one, some will say they didn’t fire at all but did. Some will say they can’t remember details about the subjects face but could distinctly remember seeing the bullets in the cylinder of a revolver pointed at them.
One of the first things a shooting incident team will do is separate the officers from each other so there is no appearance of “getting the stories straight”. I expect those supervisors who did this would be called to testify as to where, when, and in what manner they received statements from the officers or whether those officers asked to speak to union counsel, if so provided. Officers may be compelled to give statements to investigators as a condition of continued employment but under Garrity protections those statements cannot be used to incriminate the officer.
Also investigators always on the lookout for video that would support ANY statement from officers and/or witnesses and one would expect good video from a large store like Costco. There may also be other vendors that are nearby that would have video that would add to the case but I suspect those were acquired but proved inconclusive.
It has not broached but almost certainly none of the officers directly involved in the shooting would have had time, or access to the security video room, which would have been a limited access area, open to only select employees, and locked.
Let’s wait for DOJ concurrence.
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