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Friends and supporters mark the one-year anniversary of Erik Scott’s death outside the Summerlin Costco, where he was fatally shot by Metro Police officers.
By Dave Toplikar (contact) 
Friday, June 8, 2012 | 4:30 p.m.
Shai Lierley, a Costco loss prevention supervisor, demonstrates how Erik Scott brought his gun on an officer as he testifies during a coroner's inquest at the Regional Justice Center Thursday, September 23, 2010.
Documents
Sun archives
- Scott family drops lawsuit against Metro Police over Costco killing (3-13-12)
- Judge drops Clark County from wrongful death suit over Costco shooting (6-8-11)
- Judge to rule if sheriff, county will remain defendants in Costco shooting lawsuit (6-1-11)
- Former Metro officer involved in Costco shooting pleads not guilty to gun charge (5-26-11)
- Officer involved in Erik Scott shooting indicted on weapons charge (1-31-11)
- Metro officer tied to Costco shooting faces felony weapons charge (1-31-11)
- Erik Scott family drops Costco from federal lawsuit (1-20-11)
- Erik Scott family buys 4 billboard ads seeking Costco video (10-28-10)
- Police officers found justified in Erik Scott shooting; family plans lawsuit (9-28-10)
- Detective: Erik Scott had pain medicines from several doctors (9-27-10)
- Witnesses give conflicting accounts of Costco police shooting (9-25-10)
- Shoppers recount police shooting outside Costco (9-24-2010)
The family of Erik Scott, who was shot and killed by three Metro Police officers in 2010 at a Summerlin Costco store, have decided to return to state court after dropping a federal lawsuit earlier this year.
On Friday, the family filed a lawsuit in Clark County District Court against Costco Wholesale Corp. and one of its employees seeking damages in excess of $10,000 .
Scott, 38, was shot by Metro officers William Mosher, Joshua Stark and Thomas Mendiola on July 10, 2010, as he walked out of the store.
Police, who had been alerted by a Costco employee that Scott was causing a disturbance and had a gun, said when officers arrived and told Scott to surrender, he raised a gun toward them.
However, the Scotts and their attorneys say Erik Scott was merely shopping in the store when an employee told him he wasn’t allowed to have a gun in the store. The family has said that while Scott might have been upset that the Costco employees were accosting him because he was carrying his registered concealed handgun he “he was not acting erratic, not being aggressive, and in fact did not threaten or endanger anyone that day.”
After six days of testimony, a Clark County coroner’s inquest jury ruled in September 2010 that the three officers were justified in the shooting.
In October 2010, the Scott family filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Metro Police and Costco but decided to drop that case earlier this year.
Matthew Callister, the Scott family's new attorney, said he went over the transcripts from the inquest and determined "there are some serious questions that need to be addressed."
Callister and his associate, Mitchell Bisson, filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday for the Scott family alleging Shai Lierley, a Costco employee, “grossly and inaccurately” described to police over the telephone his encounter with Erik Scott after he confronted Scott about carrying a concealed weapon at the store.
The suit alleges that when Lierley talked to a police dispatcher, he mischaracterized Scott’s conduct, Scott’s intentions with his firearm and falsely accused Scott of being under the influence of illegal narcotics. Lierley testified during the inquest.
“The police improperly believed by the time they got there, they had a hostage situation,” Matthew Callister, the family’s attorney, said Friday afternoon.
Callister said transcripts of the 911 call show that Lierley stayed on the phone with the 911 dispatcher for six or seven minutes. Callister alleged that Lierley, through his statements, led police who arrived at the scene to believe that the situation was escalating.
The suit filed Friday also said that Costco breached its general duty of care to Scott by failing to follow company protocol in allowing a non-management employee to contact Metro about the situation.
The lawsuit also says that Lierley and Costco’s actions “created the situation which resulted in Erik Scott losing his life.”
The lawsuit said the plaintiffs are also seeking damages in excess of $10,000 for monetary and emotional damages, more than $10,000 for Scott’s wrongful death, and punitive damages, special damages and attorneys fees.
The plaintiffs in the case are Linda and Bill Scott, who are Erik Scott's parents, and Erik Scott's estate.
Are they kidding? Now they latched onto another shyster lawyer?
The guy was off his rocker, carrying 2 weapons, verbally incoherent, non compliant.
The family had EVERY opportunity to tell their story when they filed the first civil suit..which they conveniently dropped lock stock and barrel after they found out their witnesses had no credibility.
Erik Scott created the situation by his own conduct and drug use. Costco was just the stage. If Costco, or any other company, has a policy that employees are not allowed to call, contact or talk to police I would think the employee would have a good case should something happen to them. Bottom line is that Scott was impaired, acting irrationally and armed with a handgun. Only Scott is at fault. Gotta love attorneys.
I hope Costco does not settle this out of court because it will cost them less money.
Erik Scott caused his own death. Stop wasting Nevada money trying to heal emotional scars that will never heal.
Costco should depose his girlfriend. The one that never was mentioned in the coroner inquiry.
I'd like to see a Costco counter suit for Defamation of brand, harrasment, tresspassing, etc... Make the family put up big bucks vs a national brand and see if they wish to continue
I agree with the above post, this is something brought on by the actions of their son and has nothing to do with Costco, they need to realize the truth about the son, tragic as it is you can't blame an employee at a public store for reporting an incident that he feels endangered about. All the son had to do was acknowledge the request and peacefully leave. It is similar to joking about a bomb when boarding a plane, you just don't do it.
Too bad COSTCO distroyed the tapes. Yeah I know, just a fluke that all the cameras malfunctioned thru out the store at that time.
Not a signal dime for this ridiculous family. If I remember correctly, didn't their son have enough illegal drugs in his system to kill a normal person? And with these drugs in his system he carries not one but two guns on his person to go shopping in a good neighborhood? I agree with LV_24, Costco should counter sue them.
Chunky says:
The Scott family continues to point fingers of blame in every direction except their own. Erik Scott created this problem and now the courts have to clean it up.
Too bad his family wasn't interested enough in him when he was alive to get him off that laundry list of drugs he was on.
That's what Chunky thinks!
It's sad to see any young man die. I guess the family figured it could get more dollars from COSTCO, than Clark County. A man who has enought narcotics in his system to kill the average person, is armed with two pistols, goes into a retail store to shop. He is told to leave by an employee who sees the handgun. He is shot and killed by the police and its the fault of the retailer? Nonscense! Its all about the money and nothing else!
If the employee did mislead the police, that is wrong , but I am not sure that COSTCO should be held responsible. Of course, if COSTCO hadn't been so worried about destroying evidence for Metro then the family's lawsuit against Metro might have been stronger and would have taken the attention away from them. Sometimes you pay a huge price for your bad behavior.
"Too bad COSTCO distroyed the tapes. Yeah I know, just a fluke that all the cameras malfunctioned thru out the store at that time."
Yes, one giant conspiracy to hide the truth...LOL.
The family had all these witnesses ready to testify at the inquest but withheld them because they didn't like the fairness of the inquest. So we were told "wait until we take this to civil court and the facts, witnesses reveal what really happened"
6 months later and the family withdraws their entire suit. No witness is ever questioned. The girlfriend is never heard from again. You would think they would want to tell their story, win or lose. They didn't care about winning or losing. This case was about "our witnesses telling their story"....poof, vanish. Never heard from as they withdraw the case. End of story.
Can we say 'dysfunctional family'? How about 'cognitive dissonance'? And finally, add Dunning-Kruger to their issues.
@ petef (Peter Fritz).." All the son had to do was acknowledge the request and peacefully leave."
What request are you talking about? If you would take a couple minutes and educate yourself, I mean you do have access to the Internet, right? If you have spent a minute reading Shai Lierley's testimony (http://bit.ly/KixYeK) at the Inquest you would know that he said...
q."Is Erik posing and threat to customers..?"
a.No, Sir
@Manlaw...
q."Had Eric Committed any crime.?"
a.No, Sir
q."Did Erik threatene-actually threatedn you?" customers..?"
a.No, Sir
q."Did Anyone ask Mr. Scott to specifically leave the building?"
a.No, Sir
@Brian.."didn't their son have enough illegal drugs in his system to kill a normal person? And with these drugs in his system he carries not one but two guns on his person to go shopping in a good neighborhood?" Let's see, what's the easiest way to answer that question. Ohhh, I've got it.
NO.
Doesn't matter if he "didn't threaten customers." Bottom line, if you choose to carry a handgun, whether concealed or open carry, you run a HIGH risk of scaring those around you, who will then call the police, who, if they don't perceive you as disarming yourself properly when they ask you, will shoot you dead. TOO MANY PEOPLE think it's perfectly normal to carry a deadly weapon wherever and whenever. Those people are wrong.
Chasing another ambulance? I hope the Scott family is NOT paying anything up front and that the ATTORNEY is responsible for costs, including Costco costs, in all matters unless they can show substantial intentional fault.
The police should have went into Costco. Took Erik Scott into the back room. Sited him for Trust-passing, and escorted him off the property.
Chunky says:
It's completely irrelevant what Mr. Scott was doing inside the store. He obviously drew enough attention to himself that the police were called. Frankly he could have just as well been baking cookies and helping senior citizens push their baskets.
The pivotal moment was when he ignored the direct orders of the police, reached for and presented a weapon. Duh! The ONLY correct response to police officers who have their guns drawn on you is to freeze, show them your hands wide open and to slowly follow their orders. Even in the case of conflicting orders, he should have frozen in place, exposed his hands in the open and let the officers take control. Even the slightest movement or motion from a person carrying a weapon is a bad move.
This suit against COSTCO reeks of a money grab by the Scott family and their legal team. They're counting on COSTCO settling out of court as they know the company wont' want to deal with a public trial.
Erik Scott is directly responsible for his actions that day and the consequences, as unfortunate as they are. He was an irresponsible adult, addicted to prescription drugs and would not have been granted a CCW permit had the State known his entire mental and drug history.
Again, too bad the Scott family didn't show this level of concern and interest in their son prior to his death.
That's what Chunky thinks!
LMAO....these are the type of ridiculous "shake down" lawsuit scams run by a plethora of bottom feeders. Hopefully this will get thrown out and the family BILLED for any costs incurred by Costco.
If this guy didn't want to get shot he would have exited the store with his hands empty and high in the air. Anything the costco employees did is entirely irrelevant.
The story here is the complete silence from people like the NRA and Bob Irwin (Gun Store) the local Gun Expert and Metro Propagandist.
Apparently the Second Amendment is really subordinate to the Police State. These idiots will claim Scott blew the rules and the result was the Death Penalty. Ignoring for a minute the issue boiled down to conflicting commands by 3 officers in different locations. One yelling drop-it, another yelling freeze. Scott dropped and they dropped Scott.
The Scott Family has been given some really bad legal advice it seems. Hopefully this case will get it's day in Court.
Hopefully the attorney has talked Scott's hilbilly family into paying by the hour because he's never going to see a contingency fee paid. 40% of zero is zero.
Here's what Costco needs to explain. With hundreds of people in the store, why wasn't there another SINGLE solitary call to 911? if the story that Erik Scott was a crazed man with a gun is to be believed, where were the call(s)?
Sensible people understand why.
The lack of calls basically renders Costco claims, their story the BS it is.
A guy I work with stated to me 3 days after the shooting his daughter saw the security tape that came up missing she works their. He said to me she saw him take out his gun to place it in front of him like they train you for the CCW and all she saw was him geting shot and falling over on the gun! Ofcorse this is secound hand info however where is this tape at! something smells fishy!
This family REALLY needs to give it a rest.
chunky, right on the money.
@azsk8fan for a minute put yourself in the Scott Family's position, would you "give it a rest"?
Course not so why post such a comment?
@stopthebs and @Roslenda So now one's right to Due Process is a shakedown? or chasing ambulances?
@ChunkyFlyRight he was such a problem not a single other person made a call to 911. It is also a material fact he was give conflicting orders by at least 2 of the 3 cops at the scene.
@mschaffer Holding authorities accountable is now a Dunning--Kruger effect disorder? as if one is not suppose to question anybody over anything? just be a good little compliant slave?
What is wrong with all you people?
Here's a clue for the clueless.
Whenever you read ANY account involving a Metro shooting, the person is ALWAYS on drugs, impaired, resisting, mentally disturbed, high, nuts, loud and a general pain in the butt blah blah blah.
BTW the Costco cameras WERE working that day, because there IS video of people running out of the store at the time of the shooting. But sadly the video which would have shown Metro killing a man was somehow lost by independent Costco.
@stephen
Sell this conspiracy BS somewhere else. Employees saw him with a gun in his pants and when he got stupid with his response to being told he cant be in the store with a gun.....they called the cops.
There was no need for other customers to call 911.
The family had their time to talk. They WITHHELD their witnesses for their civil suit trial. Then they dropped their case like a weighted safe.
The blame falls on Erik and Erik alone. Sane, responsible people know this.
The question is what is wrong with you?
glad the family has refiled because now we will find more real facts in adversarial questioning instead of being sheltered and covered by metro in the manipulated inquest system that is severely controversial and will be exposed as well. smart thinking of the family and their legal team!!
be ready for metros henchmen trying to fudge things with false propaganda. i see they already did a full scale attack here...lol
@Chunky. Which of the three different commands given by Mosher would you have liked him to follow. In the audio tapes played at the inquest, Mosher could be heard yelling, "Get your hands up, drop it, get on the ground, get on the ground." Mosher didn't remember the commands he gave and had to listen to the tape. Those commands were given in less than 7 seconds. Mosher further testified that the command he expected to be obeyed was "get on the ground."
If you look at the tapes from Costco of the people exiting, they are walking out calmly, with so sign of panic or fear. In fact, Lierly had to point Scott out to the officers because they couldn't tell who was the subject of the 911 call.
The reason the suit against Metro was dropped was because of recent decisions on use of force by the US 9th Ciruit Court of Appeals. Even if the Scott's had prevailed in the lower court, it would be likely overturned on appeal.
Given the overall circumstances of the crime scene, I keep wondering how many innocent people's lives were saved as a result of aggressive police action. The victim seems like a one man SWAT Team waiting to do business. Self medicating a bipolar illness with street or prescription drugs may have pushed him over the edge. Did the family have knowledge of this problem and were they in a position to press him to seek help before this tragedy took place? It is all very sad, but it could have been much worse.
""The reason the suit against Metro was dropped was because of recent decisions on use of force by the US 9th Ciruit Court of Appeals. Even if the Scott's had prevailed in the lower court, it would be likely overturned on appeal.""
What Bull. The family stated many times their case was not about winning or losing anything but rather GETTING THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY TOLD with their witnesses, the girlfriend, "their" experts. Don't give me this Monday morning Quaterbacking excuses about appeals. Their case was solely based on getting their story, their side told...not about losing, losing on appeal. More BS from the rose colored glasses crew. The guy was high out of his mind. Rule #1, never, ever reach for your gun. The "drop it" command was done once Erik started reaching behind his back. CCW holders know you NEVER EVER reach for your gun in the presence of police. Erik decided to try and disarm himself. Bad mistake.
As I stated, they had their chance to get their story told. It was NEVER about winning or losing the case..just getting their side out. They dropped their case hook, line and sinker when they realized their witnesses had no credibility and worst of all his girlfriend might have been implicated in his drug issues.
By TomD1228
June 8, 2012
5:13 p.m.
Are they kidding? Now they latched onto another shyster lawyer?
The guy was off his rocker, carrying 2 weapons, verbally incoherent, non compliant.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What a stupid comment, he was carrying two guns therefore he is quilty and deserved to be killed. Almost all of the police officers I know carry two guns ( a backup ). Anyone who has shot guns know that they can malfunction and perhaps he didn't want to be in the situation of this happening and not having any protection. Your stupid comment makes about as much sense as saying a person is guilty of speeding because his car has the capability to do 160 mph.
@TomD1228 I had no idea this was YOUR forum. I realize you are paranoid but Metro is hardly a Department to give a pass on by default.
No kidding decisions based on questionable legal advice have been made by the Scott family. However they are legally entitled to their day in court. If Costco thinks the girlfriend could help their side they will call her. That is how it works.
What I have a really serious problem with is this attitude by some that this man did it to himself. The simple fact is two idiots working in Costco had a run-in with a customer who wasn't buying their rent-a-cop approach. Why should he? he was a decorated Marine. He knew the laws with CCW (despite the BS Metro has floated since day one). Scott knew his rights. The little boys at Costco had their egos to protect and called in Metro. Knowing full well this action would escalate this to teach this dude a lesson. There was no situation by the very fact there were no other 911 calls that day about Scott.
Scott exited the building and was met with 3 officers, 2 of which were giving conflicting commands. They were doing so because they are trained to be paranoid and operate as if they are in a War with the public. Wearing body armor these 3 cops felt threatened. The minute Scott did anything they fired. Pretty simple case actually.
TomD1228 said: "The "drop it" command was done once Erik started reaching behind his back."
How did the police know he was reaching for a gun? Oh ya the two Costco dorks made that clear in their lone 911 call. See without that call, Scott walks out of that store that day and nobody cares a wit about anything.
Costco done messed up. The missing video tape is no accident. Erik Scott was guilty of nothing that day but offending to weak egos working at Costco.
He was guilty of being non compliant...with 2 guns. Yes, that will get you killed.
High out of his mind. Cursed to Costco employees.
He DID do it to himself. He violated rule #1. High on narcotics and carrying. Oh, let me guess..the autopsy report was faked. You Erik Scott apologists had your chance in the civil suit. Man up. They withdrew because they knew they had no case and his reputation as a drug addled knucklehead would further be cemented.
Erik acted like a jackass in Costco. It manifested into him not complying to police commands. All CCW holders know you NEVER reach for your gun. Erik did. End of story. If he treated the Costco employees with a modicum of respect thy might not have called. His jackass behavior forced their hand. I would have done the same thing. Anything else is a bunch of people making apologies for dumbass behavior.
@ oldpsuguy, no innocent lives were saved but an innocent life taken by way of overly aggressive police action. are you self medicating for bi-polarism? seems you are over the edge yourself with some behavioral problems. does your own fam know of these issues? i am sure they do and can do nothing about it. it's so very sad.
i wonder how those donuts and digestive problems have caused hemorrhoids to flare then make an improper decision on the account of his painful anxiety. probably passed a dozen or so in his shorts after realizing his mistake of a blackberry.
Packing two 45s like he was Castor Troy in the movie "Face/Off" and his system full of drugs.
Yeah, let the gun nuts defend this guy..
Chunky says:
It doesn't matter how many commands are issued. Mr. Scott should have never had a gun in his hand to begin with; nor should he have had one on his person while under the influence of so many prescription drugs. Police don't ask you to drop it unless you have it in your hand and police don't ask you to unholster your weapon; they'll disarm you if you comply.
The ONLY correct response for Mr. Scott was to freeze and show EMPTY hands. This is CCW permit course 101.
Everything else leading up to this moment in time becomes irrelevant at that point.
That's what Chunky thinks!
Here are some of the eyewitness accounts I found in another post on here from back then. Kind of makes you scratch your head a bit.
"I was there, and I never saw this guy do anything with his gun (outside where he was shot). When the policeman yelled, "drop it," he had to reach for the gun to get it so he could drop it. The police started shooting immediately after "drop it" was yelled. As for the statement that he endangered people inside the store, I have not heard--yet--that he actually brandished or waved his gun around inside the store. I believe people just saw that he had a gun in his waist or holster. Fortunately, the cameras at Costco should eliminate some of the confusion in eyewitness reports."
posted: 7/14/2010 http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp...
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"I was at Costco and saw the shooting. The police officers were outside the exits with guns drawn. A helicopter was overhead. I don't know what the dead man was doing inside the store. An enormous crowd was coming out of the store because they were evacuating. I was standing about 20 feet from one officer who had his gun out and drawn. Suddenly, he yelled, "Drop it," and immediately started shooting. Three times. Then two other officers started shooting. I believe each of the other officers shot once. I think there were about five shots. It's a miracle no one else got hit. This was in the middle of a crowd. Was the shooing justified? I don't know. I didn't see the dead man do anything. But I certainly would not feel comfortable wearing a
firearm around Metro."
posted: 7/14/2010 http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp...
"I was about 20 feet ahead of this man, exiting with the crowd when he was shot. I was looking forward, away from him and the police when I heard the command "on the ground!" As I write this, I'm unsure if the command was shouted once or twice before the police shots were fired. I'm really unsure that anyone could have offered any response in the time between the command(s) and the shooting. After the shots were fired, I continued forward, away from the doors before I turned around to look back. I did not see a gun nearby, but I can not be confident there was not. As I said, I was looking away from the action when the shots were fired.
My point is this: I recognized the man on the ground as someone I'd seen in the store. I don't recall what he was doing when I had seen him; his actions were not at all memorable. He might have been looking at something on the tool aisle, or perhaps picking up a food sample from one of the sample stations along the aisles. I believe that I saw him twice and when I did, his behavior was unremarkable. This evening's news reports say that he argued with a store manager, but that must have been after I saw him. I really hope that there's a very thorough investigation of this killing. I expect that there is security film that shows the events before this man was killed.If he was leaving the store in response to the evacuation order given to all patrons, and not "escaping" after arguing with a store manager, he may not have realized the "on the ground" command was intended for him. At least one other comment here suggests the the dead man did realize that he was being addressed, and in fact an officer tapped him on the shoulder. If that's the case, I still don't know that shooting him was the only, or even the best, option."
posted: 7/14/2010 http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp...
"I have been following this story since it broke and I got the whole thing squared away
A man was seeing if his gym bag (either purchasing or purchased) would fit the number of sports drink bottles he wanted. An employe saw he was opening them up on the floor. Since the victim was crouched, his concealed weapon was showing. The employee came to the victim and told him that he cannot open the packaging. The victim said he could at another store (the "I can do this in Texas" comment) so the employee called his supervisor/manager saying there is a man with a gun opening merchandise and he wouldn't cease. The supervisor/manager immediately called 911 saying there was a distraught man destroying merchandise and he has a gun. The store was evacuated. The victim never knew that he was the reason the store was being emptied.
The dispatcher coded it as that and the police came in guns drawn. When the victim was told to get down, he was while he was taking his gun out of his belt. This is important because the eye witness says that he saw the holster and recognized it.. the gun never left the holster. When the police saw the man touch his gun, they fired to kill. The police were trigger happy
This is a wrongful death and I wish I was a lawyer to charge the officers with murder and the supervisor with accessory to murder; as well as all the smaller charges.Just a side note, I am a champion of the police. I consider the police my protectors and I taught my child to never fear police, cause there to help you when you cannot help yourself. In this instance they are wrong."
Posted: 7/12/2010 http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp...
---------------------------------------------------
"me and my mom were at costco today. unbelieveable day. I will not forget today. I glad that me and my mom are alive today. AND everyone else at costco. me and my mom saw the cpos kill the guy right in front of us. we were sitting because we thought we were going to go back in. I thought it was practice fire drill. the cops shot the guy right in front of us. we were so scared. the gun man died at the scene. I can't believe it!!! i would like to know what the gun man had in his head. was he planning to hurt people or what. I'm glad everyone at coscto is ok. Thank you GOD WE ARE ALL ALIVE!"
posted: 7/10/2010 http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp...
"I think you are right on. I was there just 8 or so feet away from the pandemonium. The three police officers had their guns out and aimed at the victim. They were shouting 'get on your knees' and 'drop the weapon at the same time. This was evolving as people were still evacuating the Costco store. In the mass commotion and screaming it appeared to me that the victim was stunned and confused as most of us were. He was given multiple but inconsistent warning signals to disarm. I think that in his confusion he may have made an attempt to show or remove the weapon....but there was never any threat verbally or physically to the police. I believe emotions took over and common sense went by the wayside. I believe that the officers fired on the perception that he was going for his gun. I saw the victim go down and turn to my side just feet away....there was no gun in either hand. This was a tragedy of monumental proportions. I keep relieving the 'surrealistic' event like that of the Sam Peckinpah movie....'The Wild Bunch'."
posted: 7/12/2010 http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp...
"I couldn't agree with you more....My wife and I were 7 or 8 feet away from the shooting as were the police. We were to the suspects immediate right. We heard and saw the 3 police officers shouting to the man in question to 'get on your knees' several times. At that point the man appeared somewhat stunned by the commotion and shouting of the police. His Right arm went up in a defenseless position and it appeared his left arm appeared to be going up but there was NO gun in his hand. He was taserd and shot at the same time. At no time did the man in question ever raise his voice, shout an obscenity or become confrontational with the police. We saw the disabled man stooping to his right facing us with what appeared to be a bullet wound in his upper chest with blood coming from the wound and immediately his eyes became glossy as he began to convulse. At this point he was no threat to anyone, both hands were in full view of us and there was no gun. As he was down, the police continued to shout 'put the gun down' several times...but there was no gun in his hand as we had full vantage point view. The injured man was having agonal respirations, he was down when the second volly of bullets rang out. There was no doubt in question that following the second barrage of bullets the man was dead. His girlfriend was to the back side of us and began to scream.....why did you kill him, he is a military man with a license to carry a concealed weapon. You didn't need to kill him....you didn't need to kill him............
more
.... An officer then came up to the injured man who in my opinion was a 'dead' man', was cuffed with his hands behind his back and no attempt by the officer to determine if the man was alive or dead. No apparent life saving aid was given to the 'downed' man. The man was totally lifeless when the Paramedics arrived on scene. I was absolutely surprised to see that no attempt at aggressive ACLS was engaged. They simply just picked up the body like a 'sack of potatoes' and hurled him onto the gurney and into the ambulance This was a crime scene.... the crime scene was violated. One of the paramedics who attended to an injured elderly lady said the man was dead. There was a dead man in front of Costco. What nobody is talking about is that there were many many spectators, many like ourselves within just a few feet of the victim when the shots rang out. It seems to me that the greater danger was posed not by the victim but by the police who fired many shots in the vicinity of the innocent public. I agree with you, I hope the media and your friends family can get their hands of Costco's Camera's which will indeed tell the rest of the story. Also it must be confirmed whether the second gun supposedly found by the victims side was indeed also registered to him as a licensed conceal and carry.
This whole incident was a monumental tragedy; a tragedy for the family and friend and also a tragedy for the involved officers who were pushed into a needless confrontation that reached hysterical proportions due to the overreaction of certain employees and bystanders. This was a needless death.
In summary it is our opinion that the victim did not pose an immediate threat to the public.... and in the final analysis was a case of excessive force"
posted: 7/10/2010 http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp...
Shai Lierley's ego was the problem. The Costco rent-a-cop who didn't like being told to go stick-it by an Ex-Marine with a legal CCW. Nobody else that day had an issue. Nobody else called 911. Only Shai Lierley did and he escalated this in hopes of showing Erik Scott who was the bigger bad azz.
The rest of the tale is textbook Metro. Cornball Police (Mosher actually looks like Curly Howard)work covered up with an equally amateurish account of what happened. Soon after they go into their usual tar and feather the victim mode, ala Calvin Darling. Video Tape of the critical scene disappears etc etc.
Two years past and no more Coroners Kangaroo Inquests and Gillespie dancing for the DOJ. Anybody who thinks the Scott shooting was about a crazed nut is either a paid shill or so paranoid they support anything the police do.
Tom said: "All CCW holders know you NEVER reach for your gun."
There are plenty of accounts that Scott was simply raising his shirt to show one of them where his gun was. Why would Scott draw his gun on anybody? Seriously use your brain here. Ex Marine with a CCW for years. You people act as if he was stupid on these issues. Or better yet, he was high on legal prescription painkillers and was incoherent, really? The guy who went to shop for water bottles and was making sure they fit into a backpack was out of it?
The more likely scenario upon exiting, based on witness accounts, is he was being given conflicting commands. Unlike Metro, Scott was not aware HE was some crazed gunman running loose in Costco. He very likely did not even see the officers hiding behind pillars with guns drawn but heard "conflicting" commands. He raises his shirt and made the famous furtive move and they shot him front and back dead.
I am sorry but Metro's account of this does not even make sense. For their story to be believed, Scott has to be an obvious threat to most beyond 3 jacked up unprofessional Metro cops. There is no evidence beyond the bull from Shai Lierley Scott was anything atypical.
Metro ambushed this man and killed him. They never once entered the store. They never once used the PA system. They never once gave a minutes concern to the public. They never even allowed but a few minutes to pass upon arrival. They allowed for really no other result than the one THEY created.
They don't have a prayer with this one, even less than with the initial lawsuit against metro. Not even if the so called girlfriend who bailed on them all comes back into the picture for a cut of the cash...
Hey dipstick, the title of the article is "Erik Scott's family files lawsuit against Costco in shooting death."
... so obviously the case isn't closed. I am always amused by how some individuals love coming onto a comment blog and then they try to start telling people what to do and what to think, as if they have some infinite, omniscient and omnipotent authority to render a final verdict on everything. I am amused by comments like "Case Closed... End of Story... Period!!!" Give it up man. You have no such power or authority. You never will and your silly for thinking it.
Listen to me. And listen to me closely. I don't need you to do my thinking for me. In fact, if I needed someone to do my thinking for me... you wouldn't be the person I'd call on. And that's not an insult. Personally, I have some questions I'd like answered... but YOU can't answer them because YOU would not be in a position to know such things. Why? Because John Q Public is not given that information outside of the Discovery process or court of law. So really, this lawsuit or that lawsuit really doesn't matter to me. This whole case as far as I am concerned, was bungled, right down to the chain of custody of certain pieces of evidence, where standard investigative protocols were violated. Furthermore, one of the shooters was a felon, and Metro and the DA knew this before the inquest hearing. Also, currently the inquest process is in limbo as a result of how recklessly this case was handled. So honestly, your dribble about "case closed" is pretty near caveman talk.
My favorite line of idiocy has to be "Given the overall circumstances of the crime scene, I keep wondering how many innocent people's lives were saved as a result of aggressive police action." From OldUPS guy.
I wonder who he thinks was going to be Scott's first victim, had the police not been called. I wonder if he has watched too many Tom Cruise movies, and thinks this is Minority Report, and not real life. I wonder if he realizes that we don't punish people for what we think they might do, but only for what they've done. I wonder if he would appreciate Metro killing him, because surely someone as idiotic as he is will eventually make a poor decision that causes someone to loose his life. I wonder if he realizes that when people dove for cover that Sunday, they weren't dodging Scott's bullets.
The only people who endangered lives that day were that Tub of Lard Mosher, Mendiola the manscaped felon and Joshua Stark. And their actions were directly influenced buy the false information cop wanna be Shai Lierley supplied police. Costco hired Shai Lierley, and are responsible for his actions. I'm just surprised none of the hundreds of people who were endangered by Lierley's actions and traumatized by his cowardice haven't filed suit. If they had endangered my family that day, I would have made sure they paid.
@BeSafer aren't you stretching things a bit too far to avoid facing the facts?
Metro responded with guns drawn, tactical vans, and ordering an evacuation of a massive store. Did this response jive with what the facts actually were? hardly.
Saying people didn't call 911 because they didn't want to get involved actually indicates there was no problem. I would submit, like Scott himself, nobody understood what all the fuss was about.
My PCP wouldn't ask but on the usual and obnoxious -- please don't sue me -- forms I was required to fill out at a specialist I was referred to; one question asked if their were any firearms in the home. I left it blank of course as it isn't germane to the reason I was there and wasn't expecting any problem as a result. Once in the screening room, the nurse asked me and I assumed she was asking because it was blank. Sensing an attitude on her part, I answered that due to privacy concerns my attorney had advised I was not required to answer. She then stated that it was policy and all questions had to be answered if I wanted to be seen. Noting her obvious attitude, I asked her under what legal authority the question was required. The end result of course was that I left without being seen, a mutually acceptable outcome and just for fun, I asked for the name of their law firm and the doctors license number which they of course refused to provide.
I went back to the office a few months later out of curiosity and looked at one of the forms and the question was no longer there. Mission accomplished.
The lesson one can take from this case is this...the CCW is BS. It puts one at significant risk with a Police Force as paranoid as Metro running around. The profiteers pushing the CCW crud do not actually care about the CCW or the Second Amendment. What they care about is selling CCW courses, guns, and ammo.
The Gun crowd lined up from day one with Metro because to do otherwise would bring them and their toxic products into the light. So they latched onto the drug narrative. They pushed the "oh well he didn't follow the rules of ccw" and other assort bs. Very little of which has ever been proven as definitive or having anything really do with that day BTW.
One thing is a 100% guarantee, if Erik Scott had not been carry that day, the results would have been entirely different.
Keep your guns at home where they belong.
I WORKED WITH ERIK SCOTT for a year. We were both managers at the same company in Las Vegas. Frankly, after working with him first hand it didn't surprise me when I heard about this incident at Costco. In my opinion, he was a heavy steroid user and used recreational drugs regularly. He comes from a military family with money and walked around in $700 custom dress shirts but imagined himself to be some "green beret." The guy was delusional. When I worked with him, he called me one morning at 6am yelling and screaming for no reason and his language was slurred. Three people in the room with me witnessed it and could hear him screaming through the phone. So, I told him off and hung up the phone. Then he starts sending inappropriate emails to people we knew in the business community that were threats against me (instead of saying it to my face) because he didn't like how I told him off. It was pathetic. I actually had to get our attorney to send a cease and desist letter just to straighten him out. It was clear to me the guy wasn't "playing with a full deck."
It appears that his father, who is high ranking in the military, can't accept his son was a drug addict and keeps suing people to save face. Further, I keep seeing people holding signs saying "Let the truth be known", etc. The actual truth is that the guy wasn't mentally stable, period.
I am glad that I had my attorney deal with this guy when the incident with him happened. Even though I have been in martial arts my whole life and can take care of myself on the street, if the guy is actually willing to pull a gun on three cops in the middle of Costco, it is my opinion that he would have been willing to pull one on me to.
One less nut with a "Rambo" complex off the streets.
Chunky said:
"The pivotal moment was when he ignored the direct orders of the police, reached for and presented a weapon."
Actually, that was one of the orders given. Its been a while, but if you look at the photos the only item in his hand that he would have been asked to drop was a cell phone. The weapon you say he "presented" was holstered, and most likely on his person since its not in the photos. So any normal person would have been understandably confused in the 7 seconds between being yelled at by people with guns giving multiple conflicting commands in your face and getting shot multiple times. In fact IIRC at least one of the officers said he reached for, but did not "present" a weapon. Only the main shooter said he did, but he had all sorts of trouble trying to describe the weapon, nevermind that it was in a carry condition he should have been able to identify as well while Erik was raising the gun to point it at him... at least according to his testimony. Most likely that clown saw a black object in Erik's hand, a cell phone. Think about that the next time you're out and you have your phone in your hand, that someone might mistake it for a weapon you're brandishing because someone made a report of you carrying a gun and being on drugs... whether or not any of that is true.
I dont know why they re-filed against Costco, as much as Shai did escalate the situation (not a single person remembers him doing anything odd inside the store, not one), neither Shai or Costco shot him. Police did.
I actually work at a pharmacy in the Summerlin area near Costco and Erik Scott was one of our customers for almost 2 years. This man was the most calmest, well mannered person I have ever met in my life and I truly believe his life was taken away in the worst way possible.
He was so patient, even in his deliverance of words made you feel at ease. The shooting was unfortunate and I know this is old news. I just happened to jump onto this when I saw his name in one of my google searches and read a few of the post.
I really believe Erik Scott was not at fault in this unfortunate incident.