CHL holder killed by police in Las Vegas at a Costco

[philip964]

There will be statements hopefully taken from all the employees. I suspect they will all support their crazy man destroying merchandise previous reports. However, did the police see and photograph all the destroyed merchandise and seize the same as evidence? One could easily see a photograph showing up in the newspaper supporting these statements. Crates of goods spilled on the floor, an aisle destroyed with merchandise scattered everywhere.

But we have not seen that photo. Why not? If it existed would n't that be so easy for the PR department of the police to give to the hungry press looking for something to hang their hat on that the police shooting was justified? After all if he was a crazy man, it becomes so easy to prove the innocence of the police department.

Or did the police find a shopping cart that had been abandoned by Eric and his girlfriend inside the store on the aisle they were on when the "bomb scare" was reported? Inside the cart were water bottles that had been removed from their boxes, so that Eric could see how they fit in a backpack. Was this found and taken into custody as evidence?

In either case a fairly simple thing to do at a crime scene. Especially if one really wanted the truth.

Or was none of this investigated, and everything "straightened up" right after the event by the employees?

Will we be left only with the employees vs the girlfriend's statements regarding the events that triggered the 911 call?

[mgood]

Will we be left only with the employees vs the girlfriend's statements regarding the events that triggered the 911 call?

I hope not. It may end up being pure luck if we can ever see clearly that he had a gun in his hand or was reaching for his gun from the outside cameras. I'm really hoping that the inside cameras will at least tell us what really happened inside.

[TXlaw1]

After everything I've read about this case (which is quite a lot), I'd hazard a guess that the inquest will find the shooting excusable (there are three possibilities; justified, excusable or criminal) and Costco and the City of Las Vegas will be paying a lot of money to fund the newly established Erik Scott Foundation.

Why would Costco or the City of Las Vegas pay for an "excusable" shooting?

The excusable ruling would be for the shooting. The reasoning I can see the inquest ruling using is that the reports from Costco led the police to be on a higher level of alert, which led them to shoot quicker than they might otherwise have or should have. I doubt seriously that the inquest would find their behavior criminal unless the video clearly shows that Erik never held a gun in his hand. Costco would be on the hook civilly for contributing to the image that led the police to shoot when they didn't need to.

Think of it this way. Costco calls 911 and says, we have a customer who is legally carrying but has not left when he was asked to. We'd like you to come and escort him from the store.

What would the police reaction have been? One or two cruisers, possibly three officers, they approach him inside the store and discuss the issue with him. They tell him that if he doesn't leave immediately, they will have to arrest him.

But Costco said they had a man with a gun, destroying merchandise, possibly on drugs or emotionally disturbed. The reaction of the police is quite different. Who is responsible for the police response? The police base their response on the report they get from the dispatcher, who is relaying information from the 911 call. They have no way of knowing that Erik isn't a threat, that yes he's armed, but he's licensed and he's behaving normally. (That's assuming that he wasn't a threat.) So if Costco's report to 911 was exaggeration or outright lies, they are civilly liable for Erik's death. Las Vegas would be on the hook civilly if the police reaction was found to be extreme. Especially if it can't be proven that Erik was pointing his gun at them.

Remember, in civil court the case is decided on the preponderance of the evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt. That's a much easier burden of proof. That's why OJ was found not guilty of criminal charges but was judged liable for the wrongful deaths of Nicole and Ron in the civil trial.

Baldeagle. Well said. And the OJ case is a good parallel.

[WildBill]

Friends of Erik Scott have put up messages on six electronic billboards in the Las Vegas area. They will be running messages to keep the story on people's minds and to try to find more witnesses to the shooting. http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/24377093/detail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[davidtx]

Friends of Erik Scott have put up messages on six electronic billboards in the Las Vegas area. They will be running messages to keep the story on people's minds and to try to find more witnesses to the shooting. http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/24377093/detail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The story mentioned a Facebook group had been created in memory of Erik. I just joined it, putting membership at 599.

[philip964]

There had been some confusion at least in my mind as to whether this particular Costco had a sign preventing concealed carry.

I asked a specific question to the members of the Nevada Shooters forum whether that was indeed the case that there was no sign preventing concealed carry.

The reply was that this member had checked that particular location and there was no sign preventing concealed carry at that store that he could find.

I joined the very nicely prepared facebook memorial page for Erik that is on line now.

[WildBill]

There had been some confusion at least in my mind as to whether this particular Costco had a sign preventing concealed carry.

I asked a specific question to the members of the Nevada Shooters forum whether that was indeed the case that there was no sign preventing concealed carry.

The reply was that this member had checked that particular location and there was no sign preventing concealed carry at that store that he could find.

I joined the very nicely prepared facebook memorial page for Erik that is on line now.

I wondered the same thing. Some of the news articles eluded to the fact that businesses in Nevada could post no-gun signs, but I can't recall any post, article or statement of the police that said Costco was posted.

[baldeagle]

Friends of Erik Scott have put up messages on six electronic billboards in the Las Vegas area. They will be running messages to keep the story on people's minds and to try to find more witnesses to the shooting. http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/24377093/detail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The story mentioned a Facebook group had been created in memory of Erik. I just joined it, putting membership at 599.

Now 600.

[mgood]

Friends of Erik Scott have put up messages on six electronic billboards in the Las Vegas area. They will be running messages to keep the story on people's minds and to try to find more witnesses to the shooting. http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/24377093/detail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The story mentioned a Facebook group had been created in memory of Erik. I just joined it, putting membership at 599.

Now 600.

I think I was #601.

[baldeagle]

There had been some confusion at least in my mind as to whether this particular Costco had a sign preventing concealed carry.

I asked a specific question to the members of the Nevada Shooters forum whether that was indeed the case that there was no sign preventing concealed carry.

The reply was that this member had checked that particular location and there was no sign preventing concealed carry at that store that he could find.

I joined the very nicely prepared facebook memorial page for Erik that is on line now.

This post appeared on the forum today.

Yes and in fact as of my last visit to Vegas (last Sunday) there were still NO signs posted that prohibit firearms.

Last Sunday was 7/18, eight days after Erik's death.

[03Lightningrocks]

Friends of Erik Scott have put up messages on six electronic billboards in the Las Vegas area. They will be running messages to keep the story on people's minds and to try to find more witnesses to the shooting. http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/24377093/detail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The story mentioned a Facebook group had been created in memory of Erik. I just joined it, putting membership at 599.

Now 600.

I think I was #601.

I would also like to do this but I don't know how. I have a face book account. Can one of you fellers please send me a link or something I can just click on. Thanks in advance.

Something sure smells rotten about all this. I have been trying hard not to do my usual opinionated post on this thread but quite frankly this whole deal is not right, if the cops were innocent in all this, we would be covered in videos showing this guy acting like a fool. My humble opinion is that the cops over reacted and are now scurrying around trying to throw sand over their poo.

[baldeagle]

Click on this link. Then click on Join.

[03Lightningrocks]

Click on this link. Then click on Join.

Thank You.... done.

[mgood]

. . .this whole deal is not right, if the cops were innocent in all this, we would be covered in videos showing this guy acting like a fool. My humble opinion is that the cops over reacted and are now scurrying around trying to throw sand over their poo.

I've been thinking the same thing. If the videos showed a guy who appeared to be a danger to anyone, they'd be all over the news.

[seniorshooteress]

Hope everyone on this forum signs the Eric Scott facebook page.