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Erik Scott was a West Point graduate who went on to serve honorably in the Army, get his MBA from Duke and establish a lucrative career in real estate and as a sales rep for a medical device company. He was 38 years old when he was gunned down in 2010 in the portico of a Las Vegas area Costco store by officers from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department. While it was 7 bullets from the only people we’re supposed to trust with guns that snuffed out Erik Scott’s life, what really killed him was an irrational fear of...

What could Erik Scott have done differently, considering the circumstances? I don't watch TV so maybe I'm way out of touch, but as far as I can tell, Scott pretty much did the very best he could have. He informed them that he had a gun (Police always like to know if someone's got a gun, and many cc folks inform police of that as a polite thing to do - police don't like surprises) It seems that Police told him to drop the gun - but since Scott wasn't HOLDing the gun, how can he drop it? He first...

The county, through Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Barker, argued to be dismissed from the case because Metro is an independent legal entity that adopts its own policies, procedures and rules. Barker told the judge that under state law the county isn’t liable for Metro’s conduct.

LAS VEGAS -- One of the three Las Vegas Metro police officers who shot and killed an armed man outside of a Summerlin Costco has been indicted by a grand jury for giving a firearm to a convicted felon. Thomas Mendiola, 23, was relieved from duty without pay earlier this year. Authorities said he gave a Sturm Ruger handgun to Robert Justice as a gift between July 10 and August 19 of last year. The grand jury indictment stated that Mendiola knew of Justice’s criminal past and conviction for theft. Mendiola along with Officers Josh Stark and William Mosher, fired...

A concealed carry killing raises dangerous questions. You don’t want to commit a crime in Las Vegas — at least not on TV. On the tube, you’ll be relentlessly pursued by a group of young, beautiful, highly educated and competent crime scene investigators who work in gleaming glass and steel labs surrounded by state of the art equipment that would make MIT green with envy. So ethical and competent are they — and the police force they serve — that if a molecule of evidence exists in the known universe, they’ll find it and brilliantly use it against a suspect...

This is a post I don't want to write. Unfortunately, I have to. Yesterday on the program we discussed the proposed changes in the horrendously biased coroner's inquest process here in Las Vegas. During that segment, I had the lamentable task of telling you that many police officers, the Sheriff, and even the DA all opposed the basic changes to the inquest process demanded by the public.

The Las Vegas police department was sued in federal court Thursday by the family of Erik Scott, which claims his civil rights were violated when officers shot and killed him at a Costco on July 10. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Nevada, names as defendants the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Sheriff Doug Gillespie, officers William Mosher, Joshua Stark and Thomas Mendiola as well as Costco Wholesale Corp. and Costco security officer Shai Lierly.

The "Long Gray Line" is bringing pressure on the Vegas department following Erik Scott's death in a hail of bullets. It was a foregone conclusion that a coroner’s inquest in Las Vegas would find three Metro police officers justified in gunning down Erik Scott in a hail of bullets outside of a crowded Costco on July 10, even though five of the seven bullets hit him from behind, and at least one appeared to have been fired while Scott lay prone, dead or dying on the ground. Police were called to the store after an employee described Scott as both...

Erik Scott's Death - A Father's Statement 8/30/2010 Erik's family would like to keep our class updated on what is occurring in the case of Erik's death. Below is a statement from Erik's father, William Scott. Please support the Scott Family by following: http://erikbscott.com Twitter: @IMOErikBscott Facebook: In Memory of Erik Scott Twitter: @IMOErikBScott YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/InMemoryofErikScott Erik Scott's Death Erik B. Scott, a 1994 U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduate, was shot and killed by three Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Metro) officers in front of the Summerlin Costco store on 10 July 2010. The shooting is still under...

The emotionless voice of Samantha Sterner told jurors on Friday that her boyfriend, 38-year-old Erik Scott, carried a gun with him everywhere he went and that the officer who shot him to death July 10 was “out of line.”

Wentworth Eatherton, the husband of the previous witness, Annette, said he called into a public radio program recently when he heard Scott’s father and attorney saying things about the shooting that he said weren't true. Eatherton said they claimed the police didn't need to shoot Scott and that the police were only 2 feet away, but that wasn’t true, he said. Eatherton recalled words he heard Scott say while in the aisle at Costco.

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...

An accomplished young man is killed by police outside a Vegas Costco, and bystander accounts starkly contrast with official reports. Erik Scott was a West Point graduate, Army veteran, MBA graduate of Duke University, and a medical sales rep for Boston Scientific. He was gunned down by three Las Vegas police officers after they responded to a 911 call by Costco store employees reporting a man with a gun, possibly on narcotics, behaving erratically. Scott was 38 years old, shopping with his girlfriend for items they needed as they moved in together. Unfortunately, those are the only details of the...

Las Vegas, NV- Some people in the Valley have been getting a loaded call recently regarding the Costco shooting in Summerlin. The messages come in the form of robo-calls, prerecorded messages usually used in campaigns or telemarketing. While these calls seem to focus on the Costco shooting, some wonder if there is a political motive behind them.

A Devil’s Deal? August 20th, 2010 More than a month after Erik Scott was gunned down in front of the Summerlin Costco, only Las Vegas METRO officers and their allies have seen Costco’s video-surveillance data and heard the contents of a 911 call made by a Costco security employee. That call set off a massive overreaction by METRO officers, and ultimately led to Erik’s death. METRO’s Sheriff, Douglas Gillespie, and his spokesmen have stated, from the first day of this nightmare, that video surveillance data the police department immediately seized has a “glitch,” and might be “unusable.” Those Costco video...

LAS VEGAS -- The Clark County Coroner’s Office has rescheduled the inquest hearing into an officer-involved shooting at a Summerlin Costco for Sept.22-24.

If mine were truly a free country, US police wouldn't wield such immense power or employ such aggressive tactics against their own citizenry – a militarisation of our police forces that started with the war on drugs and intensified after 9/11. Consider: can you invent a realistic scenario wherein you shoot a man dead; justify it with a story witnesses contradict; confiscate any surveillance video; claim a "glitch" makes it impossible to show the video to anyone else – all while enjoying the support of state legal apparatus? Police in Las Vegas did that last month, after they shot Erik...

LAS VEGAS- In a circle in the corner of the Summerlin Costco parking lot, friends and strangers lit candles in memory of 39-year-old Erik Scott. "There's nothing we can do to bring Erik back," yelled one speaker. "But, there is something we can do to change the system." They stood shoulder to shoulder, firmly believing the West Point and Duke University graduate did not deserve to die. "I know Erik," said his friend Ivan Sher. "I know him really well. I know his disposition, and there is no possible way that what was represented could have actually happened."

LAS VEGAS -- Family members and friends are planning a vigil to mark the one-month anniversary of the Las Vegas police slaying of a man in front of a membership warehouse store. The 9 p.m. Tuesday event is part of an ongoing family campaign to highlight the July 10 death of 38-year-old Erik Scott by police just outside the Costco store in Summerlin. Police say Scott had a gun and the three officers who shot Scott were responding to reports of a man ripping merchandise inside the store. Family members say Scott had a concealed weapons permit, and police should...

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Spectators at Sunday's U.S. Open of Surfing might see this message flying over the ocean: "Vegas police cover up? R.I.P. Erik B. Scott.com." Here's what it means: Family and friends have paid for a plane to fly a banner near the municipal pier in an attempt to gain national attention for Scott's death and in hopes of getting answers to some questions. Scott, a West Point graduate with an MBA from Duke, was killed in an officer-involved shooting at a Las Vegas Costco on July 10, and family and friends say they have little information about what...