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StumbleInquest set for Sept. 22 in police Costco shooting
Notes are printed on a photo during a celebration of life service for Erik Scott on July 17.
Published Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010 | 9:49 a.m.
Updated Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010 | 3:33 p.m.
Metro crime scene investigators, officers and detectives mill about the entrance of the Costco store in Summerlin after the shooting July 10, 2010.
Sun archives
- Metro mails Costco customers to find witnesses in police shooting (8-18-2010)
- Candlelight vigil held in memory of man killed by Metro Police (8-11-2010)
- Planning for a situation like recent Costco shooting not easy for police (7-19-2010)
- Man killed by police in Costco shooting honored at memorial (7-17-2010)
- Metro IDs officers in fatal shooting at Summerlin Costco (7-12-2010)
- Officers fatally shoot armed man at Summerlin Costco (7-10-10)
The coroner's inquest into an officer-involved shooting that killed 38-year-old Erik Scott has been rescheduled for Sept. 22.
The inquest, which will determine whether the officers were justified in shooting Scott, will begin at 9 a.m. Sept. 22 and could continue through Sept. 24 at the Regional Justice Center, according to the coroner's office.
The inquest originally was scheduled for Sept. 3 but was postponed due to time constraints. Clark County District Attorney David Roger had said his office needed more time for investigation. Plus, Sept. 3 is the Friday before Labor Day — an infeasible date for what likely will be a two-day inquest, he said.
The inquest will be extended beyond Sept. 24 if more time is needed to hear witness testimony, officials said.
Scott was killed July 10 after authorities say he pointed a gun at an officer, prompting three officers to shoot him. Some witness accounts have contradicted Metro's version of events.
Ross Goodman, the attorney representing Scott's family, said he is pleased the inquest has been rescheduled.
"We're looking forward to being able to review all the evidence, including the 911 tapes, the video, the witness statements and the officer statements, and the police report for that matter," he said.
Goodman said that's what the Scott family is looking forward to more than anything — the evidence, not the inquest. He said the family has not been in contact with Metro Police during the investigation into the shooting.
The autopsy and toxicology reports won't be released until the inquest, police said, which is typical for officer-involved shootings.
Earlier this week, Metro Police mailed and faxed about 120 letters to Summerlin Costco shoppers who were at the store around the time of the shooting. Police said they hope the letters prompt witnesses to come forward for interviews to help piece together a complete picture of events.
The family of Scott, a West Point graduate with a concealed weapon permit, has denied Metro's version of events and has since launched a campaign to raise awareness about the incident — both at the local and national level.
They bought ad space on Las Vegas billboards asking witnesses to come forward, flew banners over the U.S. Open of Surfing in California directing people to a website they created, and organized a candlelight vigil last week at Costco to mark the one-month anniversary of his death.
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At the site of the Manor car crash, police threatened potential witnesses with arrest. So does the letter intimidate as well? Post the letter.
Apologies, the letter has been posted.
Did anyone ever recover the video evidence?
Apparently, according to the sheriff yesterday, there is no video of this shooting, the hard drives were sent out for evaluation to no avail, so we all know what that means.."shooting justified"
Get ready for the Cover Up.
But what is surprising to me is that if there were no actual tapes of this shooting, then why was this not made public right away, that would have probably halted some of the drama
Video was recovered from Costco, but according to the Sheriff, they were "corrupted" and Metro sent them to a lab in CA to try to recover any useable images. The Sheriff has indicated that he doubted that they would ever recover any useable images. Given the recent history of Metro, the "corrupted" images are a major concern. My question is if a customer had claimed to have been seriously injured by a box falling from a top shelf would those videos be "corrupted"?
The video is not what's corrupted here. Don't even think about reelecting this joke of a Sheriff.
Interested to see how this plays out. Unless there is video, I don't think the "Metro is corrupt" people will believe anything the DA says.
The longer it goes on, the more I get an uneasy feeling about the incident..
But, it is what it is...let's see what happens on Sept. 22. I would hope they will hold that date and not delay it.
i hope these cops are guilty. i love seeing metro cops be proven wrong. if they are, ill be dancing in front of the courthouse when they are tried for murder! i hate metro
No one needs to second guess that question, of course the cameras would be in working order if someone claimed a box fell on them and filed a claim.
If the video is no good, the people in Las Vegas (Summerlin) should demand an explanation as to why the security system failed. This is an important lapse in security for CostCo customers. I would expect a press release from their CEO, not their legal department.
Nice story in the paper today about how the coroners inquiry got its start...funny how it has changed over the years to it's current status...to not much more than a farce...this other kid they killed...just as bad as the scott shooting...funny how money makes things happen
@robbdogg_lv: we know that there was a hard drive upon which the videos SHOULD have been recorded. The question becomes whether or not the video will be released at the inquest. Holding an inquest without video evidence in the Scott case would really turn the whole proceeding into a farce.
If the public is told that the videotape was "corrupted" and no video is available, that message had better be delivered by the FBI lab, not by a lab on Metro's payroll.
And then some very serious evidence chain of custody questions will need to be asked.
@sigtwenty
Dont hate Mighty Metro because you didn't get hired. It's your fault the psychologist said "no way jose"!
What about the off-site back-ups of the video at costco's central data center?
http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/ar......
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-......
http://mostlywater.org/pivot_files_compl......
http://www.journalstandard.com/highlight......
http://policelegal.com/2010/05/26/dash-c......
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index......
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index...... (FBI investigates)
http://198.173.75.66/fastnews/dailies/20......
http://www.leavenworthtimes.com/news/x88......
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories......
Ok there are a lot of links that I have posted here. They are all police shootings that have one thing in common. The investigations were conducted by OUTSIDE agencies. Gillespie or Rogers should ask the FBI to investigate this shooting.
If the videoa were corrupted it was while trying to alter them in costco's or metro's favor. The odds of this so called malfunction happening at that specific time are about a billion to one.
Use this link to see the above links in full.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/aug...
"Police said they hope the letters prompt witnesses to come forward for interviews to help piece together a complete picture of events."
I would like to hear more from the witnesses that came forward at the shooting and were told to leave by LVMPD when they did not like what they had to say, they saw no gun!!
Sometimes it just takes longer to get a story together.
The Scott family has access to the only consistent thread to this whole tragic event. The girlfriend.
What are the odds that the girlfriend will be called to testify at the Coroner's Inquiry?
+++++
Beware GESTAPO 9-1-1.
Cognastics
I'm sure the girlfriend has already been interviewed and almost immediately right after the incident. And sorry - being distraught doesn't give you a free pass when you are one of the few people who actually knows what happened.
Done deal. We'll have to wait for the civil trial to get the truth.
Oh, wait. There won't be a civil trial, there will simply be a gigantic out-of-court settlement.
Metro will just go on being Metro.
The girlfriend is all we have to go on. I don't trust the cops version. It all seems too shady for me.
Big deal. We all know what will happen.
I would love to see the criminal history of all the cop bashers leaving posts on this story. You probably hate metro because you always get tickets for speeding, running red lights and busted for peossession or stealing from other people.
I agree that the Inquest IS flawed, so we as a people should demand change... and one way is by our vote at the next election.
Do you really think that in the moments after the shooting somebody went to the Costco security office and tried to alter the tapes... come back to reality people !!
For all of you that "hate" Metro: next time you are rear-ended or T-boned by a screwball LV driver, are the victim of a home invasion, your car gets stolen, you get robbed, mugged or assaulted, don't call Metro, call the ACLU. That moron Allen Lichtenstein will rush right over and help you. Yeah, right!
@lvfacts, you are right...there is no point in calling Metro, as in most of the crimes you mentioned, they won't even respond anyways. Nope. Stolen Car? Robbery? Break in? LOL, Metro ain't wasting their time with you, better be prepared to go into the nearest substation, sit in the office for 2-hours and file your report that they'll do absolutely nothing about.
You. Fail.
"I would really love to see the criminal history of all the cop bashers leaving posts on this story".
If you look at the pictures of the Costco vigil for Erik Scott you probably can see the so-called "cop bashers". Elderly war veterans. Middle aged mothers with kids Guys wearing khakis and golf shirts, women wearing sundresses. Yeah, true hardcore criminals I'm sure.
You know, maybe people are just tired of twenty-something year old kids with guns and badges shooting and driving their cars into innocent civilians with no professionalism or internal accountability.
Maybe people think that the way to handle officers that lie during investigations is to charge them criminally, just as a civilian would be charged.
Maybe people think that Metro's leadership shouldn't have to wage a public relations campaign to get their officers to follow the laws that citizens pay them to enforce and they are sworn to protect.
Maybe people are tired of an inquest process that has become nothing more than a dog and pony show, along with a police union and Sheriff that don't see anything wrong with the process.
Maybe people have a problem when false information is provided in a sworn affidavit to a court and the subsequent raid results in the death of guy in front of his pregnant girlfriend.
Nope, they must all be cop haters.
I can't recall a city where I've seen a larger gap between the community and the police department that is supposed to be serving that community.
I am sure the people at the Vigil were there in support of Erik Scott and most likely dont bash the police... I am talking to the morons who hide behind their computers and attack the police as a whole rather then the handful of individuals that shouldn't be wearing a badge and gun.
Like I said before I agree that the Inquest is flawed but I don't see anyone doing anything about it.
The cop haters on here don't know any of the facts about what happened and are just jumping to conclusions and using this as an opportunity to run their mouths.
I, like everyone else wants to know and see the truth but I am not going to assume anything and just run with it.
A lot of the posts are not fair to the honest hard working officers that are out there doing their job, and doing it well... like any proffession there are bad apples that need to be removed, Doctors, lawyers, politicians, plumbers, mechanics, priests and so on.
I have never been involved in any crime ever, haven't even received a ticket in 10 years, but have a poor opinion of the cops in this town. They are self serving, force and trigger happy and poorly trained for most part. Tickets gets more priority than victims of serious crimes like property stolen, homes burglarized, even assaulted or raped. For most part you are on your own if you have been victims of crime, if police does not screw you more, consider yourself lucky. The force in Vegas is about the highest paid in the country, in return the people get little better than Gestapo.
The obvious meaningless killing of Scott and corruption of the tape by Metro along with farce of the inquest should make the citizens of Las Vegas stand up and do the only thing they can which will matter - that is to vote the Sheriff and his cronies out.
When a military officer kills someone, it's okay because they're there to protect the rest of us. When a county officer kills someone, people blame the pigs and throw a fit about how wrong they are.
If this hadn't happened in Summerlin, would it be a big deal? Nah. If some black kid was shot on D Street, not one person would bat an eye - because it's "common" there. Right?
Sure, the system has it's flaws, as does every system. But those men and women train for these kinds of events. THREE officers shooting a person, all three with the same story, seems highly unlikely to be just a case of "another trigger happy cop".
And as someone said above about the busted surveillance - why aren't people getting angry at Costco about that? Where is your safety there? You PAY to belong to this club, yet if anything happened to you, there's no guarantee that they'd even have the footage of it. What if the hard drive really is corrupted? Oh, obviously it's the cops who did it, Costco wouldn't be to blame.
Which brings me to another point. Why were the cops even called in the first place? Did cops just magically arrive and clear out the building for fun? Please. Someone called the cops because there was obviously some kind of threat with this guy, weapon or not.
Maybe instead of automatically getting pissed at the cops, put blame where it is deserved. In the Costco surveillance system, in the employee that called, and then, maybe, the cops. Cops risk their lives with every single call they go to, and if the guy didn't listen to their directions and continued to do what he felt was right (which is messed up since he's military trained SO HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER), maybe this incident wouldn't have happened.
And for all you bashing the cops, maybe if you stopped speeding or driving on suspended licenses (or getting DUIs, or having no car insurance, or registration, yada yada yada), the cops wouldn't have a reason to pull you over and "pick" on you in the first place. Usually the ones who hate on cops are ones who broke the law in the first place.
@who_really_knows: I agree with you totally about differentiating between the good cops and those that shouldn't be wearing a badge. The problem is that the minority of cops that shouldn't be wearing a badge aren't being rooted out aggressively. That is a leadership failure and the end result is that it reflects poorly on the organization as a whole.
You're always going to have some people that will criticize law enforcement no matter what. But I believe the number of people in that category is a small minority. The majority of people hold police officers in high regard, but also want to ensure that they have an honest, hard-working police department.
Unfortunately, when you have officers like Yant, Ubbens, Carpenter, Manor etc. disobeying direct orders, driving recklessly and endangering civilians, signing off on affidavits with false information, etc. , the whole department gets a black eye. A single incident is excusable. Multiple incidents constitute a problem.
I feel bad for the majority of officers that are doing their job on a daily basis. But the solution isn't to put heads in the sand. The solution is to move aggressively to reward the good officers and to eliminate the bad officers.
@mixtapes: I think people are placing the blame on Metro because they were the ones that shot and killed Erik Scott. That having been said, I agree with you on the Costco front. I don't think the officers woke up that day and said "Hey, I think I'll kill someone today". In fact, I think the only person that acted with malice was probably the Costco employee that did the equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded movie house.
I don't think Erik Scott was ever a threat to officers and I don't think the officers would ever have drawn their own guns if Scott's behavior inside the store was accurately described to the 911 dispatcher by the Costco employee.
If you notice, Costco has not issued a single statement on this case. Not only haven't they issued a statement, they haven't even acknowledged that an incident even occurred. They're being amazingly tight-lipped about the situation. Usually after an incident like this, you'll see store employees talking to the media and senior corporate executives will publicly praise their employees for "ensuring the safety of customers". That hasn't happened either.
I think Costco is content to sit back, keep a low profile and let Metro take the brunt of the criticism.
@who really knows. I was at the Erik Scott Vigil and I comment quite frequently on these forums. I don't have a criminal record. I just happen to be a retired army officer, West Point graduate, and educator who sees a flawed system that needs to be fixed. I appreciate the job the vast majority of officers do. The problem is the few who tarnish the good name of all police officers. The public, or at least this member of the public, and I think many others have lost faith in the system, and I will be exercising my voting rights in November, and I do have a long memory. Whether it was Trevon Cole or Erik Scott, or Ivan Carrillo, what happened is wrong and if we allow it to continue we all are responsible. "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." I want to know how my elected officials at the county level, the Sheriff, the DA and the County Commission are going to change the system for the better, and hope that you all think the same.
Sad prediction, Trevon Cole Case will be found justified. I hope it isn't but given the track record, think that it will be.
At least we all agree that the system needs to be fixed... but it is frustrating to see comments that start off with "I don't think this and I don't think that" Since you are already starting off with I don't think, how about just keeping your opinions to yourself. I wasn't there and don't know what happened. I will wait for the evidence to be presented... ie, 911 tapes, video tapes, witnesses and everything else they got.
Some of you sound like that you have already held the Inquest in your livingrooms and will dipsute any verdict handed down unless its found to be criminal... that makes you no better then the people you bad mouth.
So in other words, they need until 9/22 to get the video altered?
I bet by the time the video finally comes back from being "recovered", they'll show Mr. Scott on the grassy knoll in Dallas.
@who_really_knows: at least most of the people on this blog understand that only the videotape will give a 100% accurate story. I'd rather have people say "I think" than makes claims of fact like Metro did in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, when Metro falsely stating that all eyewitnesses corroborated the police version and there were no conflicting eyewitness accounts.
If anyone is looking to point the finger at someone, point it at ERIK SCOTT. You don't get shot in Costco by police for nothing. The blame lies squarely on him. My heart goes out to his family but HE IS TO BLAME FOR WHAT HAPPENED.
@SummerlinCC...
"I would really love to see the criminal history of all the cop bashers leaving posts on this story".
If you look at the pictures of the Costco vigil for Erik Scott you probably can see the so-called "cop bashers". Elderly war veterans. Middle aged mothers with kids Guys wearing khakis and golf shirts, women wearing sundresses. Yeah, true hardcore criminals I'm sure.
You know, maybe people are just tired of twenty-something year old kids with guns and badges shooting and driving their cars into innocent civilians with no professionalism or internal accountability."
Been sayin' that all along, SummerlinCC. Could not agree more.
Good luck in your "search for justice"...you are going to need it, as you know.
It's not a race you hear about ad-nauseum yet, but please be aware, people; There is a race for Sheriff on the ballot in November. I personally believe, #1, that "VOTING FOR SHERIFF" is a poor way to "appoint" the best qualified individual for this VERY, VERY IMPORTANT POSITION in this community, and #2, that since we DO vote on it, that voters pay particular attention to this race, and give some genuine thought to who should lead Metro into the future... your life or the life of a loved one may depend on it.
"The Sheriff" is responsible for making sure his Department has THE PUBLIC'S TRUST.
Does this Doug Gillespie-led bunch have YOUR TRUST???
For the Record, I don't have one. Not even a traffic ticket...and I am NOT a COP-BASHER.
Stay safe out there!!!
Anxious to find out about the toxicology reports. I not going to be surprised when commonly abused drugs are found in his system.
@gmag39: I couldn't agree with you more that electing a sheriff isn't not the way to go. The concept of electing sheriffs originated when communities were small and it was thought that the local townspeople could pick a respected person to be their sheriff.
In today's era of professional politicians, candidates for sheriff need to curry favor with the special interest groups that have the most to gain or lose with the election of the sheriff--and that means the police unions. Sheriffs need to be careful not to alienate the unions for political reasons. The average citizen pays little attention to the sheriff's race until something like the Scott incident occurs.
Unfortunately, being a great cop doesn't always mean being a great politician and vice versa. Bill Bratton has probably done more to improve law enforcement techniques than any other police chief in recent memory, yet he's never been elected to a single office. I think the Sheriff's position should be filled using a nationwide professional search that seeks to find the best qualified individual to lead the department.
The cop will be found innocent. They always are. Waste of money.
KOM674, i would never want metro pd on my resume period. i never applied and never will.
hey, theses guys need to be taking down and now there time has come, so did billy the kid, and all those cowboys in the west. after the showdown at the ok corral. erick scott will be the last man standing. hur rah!
Guess Metro finally got their stories coordinated.
On the other hand, could be Scott was high on some prescription drugs he had easy access to since he was a medical equipment salesman who frequently was in the operating room. I advise everyone to keep an open mind until ALL the evidence has been presented.
I've been looking for an official statement where "The Sheriff has indicated that he doubted that they would ever recover any useable images".
Can someone link please?
When can we see the tape ? Oh has it been destroyed because it contains damaging evidence against METRO or is it being edited by the best Hollywood production studio money can buy. Release an unedited copy of the (actual) video as it was seen by the camera. Then we the citizens of Las Vegas can decide what happened that day. My guess is the video has been destroyed or edited using a computer generated image showing Mr.Scott drawing and pointing his weapon at the officers.
Costco's insurance policy apparently requires them to keep copies of store surveillance tapes at an off-site location. It would be interesting to know if Costco was in compliance with that requirement.
Also, it's only a matter of time before a RICO claim is filed against Metro PD given that there appears to be a pattern of criminal conduct among officers that has heretofore gone unchecked..
"After last year's tragedies I was hoping somehow this year would be better" -Sheriff Gillespie. Lack of hope is a poor thing for a sheriff to portray publicly. It demonstrates a disconnect between himself and what he is appointed to be. They hire young guns-this age bracket is immature and lacks the wisdom to perceive what is truly dangerous and what can be diffused. They drive around all day bored staring at a computer while driving and get way too excited when notified of something that may be serious. They are hotshots and are not in full control of themselves. It is always the young ones not the older ones that get caught up in these situations. It takes years to mature in the meantime bad judgement calls will continue to be made everyday every minute and its the price to pay for policing society. Its the best we can come up with so far.
Some of you people watch WAY too many movies. You honestly believe that Metro is going to digitally alter the videos to make it appear that Scott was pointing a gun? Really? Do you realize how outrageous those claims are?
I suppose you don't believe in the Apollo moon landings either.
Sheriff Gillespie is scheduled to be on Face to Face with Jon Ralston at 630 pm on Monday. Might be interesting to watch.
You know SummerlinCC
You are so full of it. You sit with your fat ass behind a computer and play like you know what your talking about. If you are so astute about all these issues why haven't you been a police supervisor?
"if the public is told that the videotape was "corrupted" and no video is available, that message had better be delivered by the FBI lab, not by a lab on Metro's payroll" What does this mean, where is the FBI involved? There is no federal investigation. a "serious chain of custody questions will need to be asked". You have no idea how or what a chain of custody is used for. You are a complete joke.
"Costco has remained tight lipped". Why should Costco tell you anything, They are responsible to their shareholders not you. Ohhhh the conspiracies abound. You make comments and have no basis for any of them you are a tool. You think the employee yelled fire in a crowded movie theater, how do you know , you were sitting behind your computer? Where are all the witnesses you said would be coming forward????
You have the nerve to state "You're always going to have some people that will criticize law enforcement no matter what". Which is EXACTLY what you have done, from day one that is what you have done. You think places with Video surveillance never have issues with equipment, you think that doesn't happen often. Yes it should have been recorded but it wasn't but ohh Metro is behind this conspiracy. Let the process take its course and Please Shut up.
@lancelot. If the video is corrupted, that message would be better received and trusted if it came from the FBI labs. They are pretty good I hear. Given the problems Metro seems to have with the truth, not sure hearing that from a firm paid by Metro to try to recover images would sit well.
A chain of custody is used to keep track of who had control of the evidence and to try to insure that there is no tampering.
The Costco employee may have embellished the story that was given to Metro in the 911 call to get a response. It has been suggested that the employee who made the call is no longer at the Summerlin Costco (The Rant, Fox 5 Thur, Aug 19) and has moved out of town. Costco may be closed lipped due to fears of civil and possibly criminal liability. Every camera in Costco wasn't working, please, how dumb do you think we all are. We have seen the video from the Smith's parking lot where the 95 year old was mugged.
The issue that many of us have is the fact that Metro seems to be out of control and has forgotten that they work for use. Look at the Manor case, incorrect statements and lies, the Yant shooint, lies on search warrant affidavit, the Ubbens and Carpenter case where they disobeyed three orders to stop pursuit, lied about it and Ivan Carrillo died. Then look at the conflicting stories about the Erik Scott case. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it is a duck.
Let's see Officer Yant, 3 shootings, 2 dead, Officer Mosher, 2 shooting 2 dead. Officer Cannon involved in 2 shootings, Suave Lopez and Trevon Cole. Does anybody see a problem.
The people of Vegas aren't stupid and we will never forget.
What comes to mind when you think of Las Vegas police? speeding, car accidents, shootings, arrogance and the blue line. tsk, tsk, tsk Metro
We have no confidence in the coroner's inquest and distrust the system. Scrap the inquest system. Charge and try the shooter and his/her supervisors with murder. The careless cop shootings will stop tomorrow.