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 ...
Aye, there's the rub.
Law enforcement agencies must settle for mere mortals.
>>When people are given the authority to stop, question, arrest and kill as part of their job they had better be responsible, courageous, judicious,
>>sober and possess a very high degree of self control and cognitive and analytical ability. No doubt this is very hard to attain and seems “unfair”
>>as it means that a very high standard of conduct is expected. But with great authority comes great responsibility. If people aren’t up to it they
>>should be employed elsewhere.
>
>Aye, there’s the rub.
>
>Law enforcement agencies must settle for mere mortals.
I disagree, the ‘rub’ isn’t that the police/LEOs “are only human.”
The ‘rub’ is that for so long they’ve been held to a *LESSER* standard than that they impose on others.
Every time I feel suicidal, I go to Costco to shop.
...says the man who's never worn a badge.
Pfffft.
“The ‘rub’ is that for so long they’ve been held to a *LESSER* standard than that they impose on others. / ...says the man who’s never worn a badge.”
I suggest you try shooting someone whose gun is still in its holster...then see how many DAs will DEFEND someone who isn’t a cop who shoots a person whose gun is holstered.
The DA in this inquest is arguing for his client - the government, which doesn’t want to pay civil penalties. There is a reason they’ve had over 150 shootings by cops in Las Vegas without ever having an inquest determine wrong doing - and it isn’t because all 150+ shooting have been clean!
If I pulled a gun and shot someone who was giving up their holstered gun, I’d be in jail that night. I wouldn’t be walking the streets with the DA defending me 2 months later!
There is a standard for “civilians”, and a much, much lower one for cops.
I will address the issues that you have brought up a bit later as I am agreement with many of them.
Good replie.
I didn’t ask you for permission.
SnakeDoc
Tell that to his wife and kids.
SnakeDoc
Still not relevant. A cop can’t be expected to identify holster-related trigger-access and the safety was engaged in the split second between being drawn on and being fired at.
SnakeDoc
They, apparently, wanted to have him put his hands above his head so as to apprehend. Instead, his hand went to his sidearm, and he got himself killed.
He was really armed.
SnakeDoc
Who cares who Horiuchi is? I looked him up ... still not relevant to this case except insofar as he exposes the biases of those who insist on bringing him up.
SnakeDoc
You were asked if you had ever read anything about this case. You never replied. So you are stereotyping posters that have read everything and that disagree with you. ONE poster was very rude to you. So you take it out on everyone else. Narrow minded and ill-informed won't make you an expert on why other posters disagree.
1 - It is at least as relevant as the DAs suggestion Scott was suicidal and trying to provoke the cops into shooting him.
2 - Someone drawing a holstered gun for handover makes a very different motion than someone drawing to shoot - particularly if the other person has the drop on him
Speaking for myself, if I pulled against someone with a gun already in their hand, it would mean I was desperate, AND I would be moving as fast as I am capable of moving. The very act of gripping the holster and pulling it free is different, and the speed much slower.
Do I expect a cop to notice such things? Darn right I do! If I shot someone whose gun was in its holster, do you think the DA would go to bat for me? Or would I spend at least the first night in jail?
As I’ve posted before, I’ve met a guy who had a cop order him both to not move & to hand over his gun, with a Glock 40 stuffed in his face and the cop’s finger on the trigger. And the guy it happened to was an ex-cop (medically retired).
Sometimes cops WAY overreact, and that can set up a needless shooting. And that is what the inquest is supposed to be about - presenting the plain evidence and letting a jury decide if the cop’s behavior was appropriate.
BTW - sounds like your pal got himself shot as a consequence of that secret war - another LEO who was in his castle, and thought that he was better than us civilian peasants, was shooting the joint up, and plugged your pal.
Don't try to pretend it was an "ambush" by some random "civilian", Leather-Loving Boy.
Horiuchi is slightly relevant, in that he proved government stupidity and bungling can result in people being killed needlessly - hence the nearly $3.5 million the government paid out after Ruby Ridge.
Also, much of what happened at Ruby Ridge was started by the FBI receiving false information about the suspect, including quotes attributed to him but made by another unrelated person.
I think a lot of what happened at the Costco was set up by the Costco employees, who exaggerated the situation. The responding cop expected a very dangerous person, and saw what he expected to see.
I’m still not sure what part of my reply made you think I cared what you thought.
You throw around accusations like “ill-informed” and “narrow minded” (an ill-informed accusation, I might add), and your cohorts throw around names like “jackboot”, “blowhard”, “jackboot licker” ... and one even had the audacity of mocking an officer (and a friend of mine) who was died in the line of duty because the shooter was an ex-reserve officer ...
And, you claim rudeness bothers you? I didn’t see you call out the several obnoxiously rude guys (one, indeed) that agreed with you. If you got your feelings hurt because I think you and your ilk are “anti-cop” ... you’ll have to suck-it-up.
SnakeDoc
The girlfriend, who was interviewed by Metro two hours after the murder, said that Erik was fishing the gun out by the BARREL, not by the "part that you grab".
That puts a WHOLE different complexion on the handover.
I'll have to review the inquest notes to see if the ass DA questioned the Stay-Puft DonutRoidRageBoy about that little detail...
The girlfriend also said at the end of the interview that DonutRoidRageBoy was VERY aggressive, and she went into detail. DonutRoidRageBoy's hyperaggressive foaming demeanor was probably why she flipped out and started shrieking. I was wondering why she didn't just run up to Erik and wrap her arms around him to protect him, but after listening to the interview, I'm thinking that Snake's Hero would have gunned BOTH of them down.
Horiuchi is irrelevant ... as are you. Move along, Mumia.
SnakeDoc
I asked you 4 times if you had read previous articles. You never responded.
And, you claim rudeness bothers you?
It's not the rudeness. It's calling names and stereotyping posters because they disagree with you. And that is what you are doing. I HAVE read all the articles. Have you?
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