Posted on 09/27/2010 9:40:32 AM PDT by pgyanke
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 investigation, but here are the basic facts, based on numerous eyewitness reports:
Erik was carrying a legally registered concealed firearm, while he and his girlfriend were shopping at Costco. He also had a concealed carry permit in his wallet, issued by the same Metro department that killed him.
When Erik squatted on the floor to verify that three metal water bottles would fit into a soft-sided, zip-up cooler, a Costco employee saw the weapon. Erik's shirt had lifted up, revealing an inside-the-belt holstered pistol tucked into the back of his jeans. A civil interchange ensued, and the employee informed Erik of Costco's policy that guns were not allowed inside company stores -- although there are no signs to that effect posted outside or inside the facility. Erik calmly responded that his gun was legal and that he had a concealed carry weapon (CCW) permit on his person. Like many other Boston Scientific pacemaker sales reps, Erik carried a concealed weapon for personal protection, because reps are required to enter dangerous areas of the city at all hours of the day and night to serve patients fitted with cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators. Contrary to wildly erroneous news reports, we don't believe Erik had a second gun on his person.
The Costco employee apparently reported to the store's manager that Erik was carrying a gun. The manager, in turn, informed a young, plainclothes security person, who subsequently placed a 911 call to the police. The contents of that 911 call have not been released, but Northwest Metro cops rushed to the store in overwhelming force. Perhaps as many as 15 police cruisers, a helicopter, an incident-command team and an ambulance were dispatched.
Costco managers announced via the PA system that the store was being evacuated. Unaware that the evacuation had anything to do with him, Erik and his girlfriend walked out with the crowd, passing three Metro officers waiting at the entrance. The Costco undercover security guard pointed to Erik, and the cops started yelling at Erik to stop and turn around.
Erik turned to find three officers facing him, guns drawn, and all three shouting different commands: "Get on the ground!" "Drop your weapon!" and "Keep your hands up!" Erik held his hands up, spoke calmly, told them he DID have a concealed firearm and a legal CCW and was an ex-Army officer. His girlfriend was screaming about Erik being a West Point grad, former Army officer, etc. Erik leaned to his left, hands still up, to expose the pistol inside his belt, and repeated, "I am disarming; I am disarming..." Witnesses say he started to lower his right hand, palm OUT, as if intending to remove holster and gun together — but never got the hand below his shoulder, when one of the cops (William Mosher, who had committed a fatal shooting in 2006) shot Erik in the chest with a .45-caliber weapon. Erik dropped to his knees, clearly in shock, his face a picture of disbelief. He was shot a second time and collapsed. The rest is ugly. The three officers unloaded again, firing a total of seven hollow-point rounds. At least five, possibly six, hit Erik in the back, after he was on the ground and dying.
The cops roughly handcuffed Erik's hands behind his back, and, in the words of an eyewitness, "tossed him onto a gurney [as if he were] a sack of potatoes."
Costco had numerous security cameras inside the store and at least four trained on the entrance portico, where the shooting took place. Metro officers immediately seized the surveillance-camera video data (computer hard disks), including backup drives. Within hours, Metro leaked "news" that the video may be "unusable," and that the hard drives had been sent to a forensics lab in Los Angeles. More than six weeks later, only Metro personnel have seen the video. Sheriff Douglas Gillespie, the Metro chief, continues to say that "there's probably no usable video" of events inside the store or of Erik's fatal shooting. He also has refused to release the 911 audio tape, even though Metro normally releases those 911 call tapes to the media within days.
There's been considerable media coverage of Erik's shooting, and many of the news reports are available on Las Vegas TV station and Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper websites. Erik's family and friends have done numerous interviews, as we search for the truth about Erik's slaying. Many people think one of our more-effective interviews was on Channel 8/KLAS TV with George Knapp of the "I-Team." (http://www.8newsnow.com/global/story.asp?s=12809131)
A Clark County Coroner's Inquest Hearing is scheduled for 22-23 September in Las Vegas. Considered to be unique in the U.S., this particular inquest process is heavily biased in favor of law enforcement personnel. A Las Vegas reporter referred to it as "police investigating police and reporting to police." In 34 years of inquests into more than 190 officer-involved shootings, only one officer has been found at fault — and he was never prosecuted.
Interested parties can follow developments in this case, as well as an "E-Team" weblog featuring commentary and insights, at: http://www.erikbscott.com
William B. Scott Erik's Father
*Note that this information was not created by USMA Class of 1994. All information was provided by the Scott Family in order to keep Erik's friends and classmates informed.*
They are targeting ex-army now.
They let the crooks keep living that carry concealed and kill the permit holder.
I believe cops like this understand law abiding people are the real enemy they face, they will be the ones that would go after crooked cops. And that these kinds of cops will start taking them out now.
William Mosher should be fired and his ass kicked !
Just to be curious, did you really command that person to touch his weapon? If so, why?
Many of us are curious about that. We know why police do it. I hope it is not the same.
I suggest making license plates.
1)Was that for inspection? To verify that the person is well armed & secure?
2)Like entering a Texas Gun Show, where you have to show your firearm(s) to verify that they are unloaded?
3)Or were you to disarm that person?
Examples:
"I saw Scott's shirt fly up and a gun come out," she testified. "After I heard the shot, I ran back inside and prayed I didn't get shot in the back."
Shopper Dolly Rand gave a similar account. The officer was yelling at Scott to get on the ground when Scott reached to his right side and pulled out a dark object, she said.
"It was going straight up toward the police officer," Rand said.
Steve Albright, who said he has a concealed weapons permit and has gone armed to Costco, was with his wife and two young children when he noticed Scott standing in front of an officer. Scott made an "intentional smooth move" toward his hip, which Albright recognized as someone drawing a gun.
"It was enough of a threat to leave," he said, explaining how he never saw Scott pull a weapon because he quickly spun around and headed back into the store with his family.
I guess the aliens will be coming for your brain as well?
ping
Scott was severely impaired by large amounts of drugs. Carrying a weapon in his condition was illegal.
I haven’t read the articles. What kind of drugs was he SEVERELY impaired by?
It was at a checkpoint in Gaza. He had been identified as carrying a weapon and should have declared it earlier.
I have seen where he was on some medication... you’re the first I’ve heard say it was illegal for him to have the gun. Can you elaborate... legally?
Some witnesses say he reached rapidly for the gun, others slow - but I own the same type holster, and you doo NOT rapidly pull it out of your waistband.
And since it was impossible for him to fire without racking the slide, he KNEW he couldn't shoot - so he obviously wasn't trying to outdraw the already draw guns of the LVPD, was he?
Here is the picture that shows Scott's gun lying on the ground after the shooting:
1. It is unlawful for a person who:
(a) Has a concentration of alcohol of 0.10 or more in his blood or breath; or
(b) Is under the influence of any controlled substance, or is under the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and a controlled substance, or any person who inhales, ingests, applies or otherwise uses any chemical, poison or organic solvent, or any compound or combination of any of these, to a degree which renders him incapable of safely exercising actual physical control of a firearm, to have in his actual physical possession any firearm. This prohibition does not apply to the actual physical possession of a firearm by a person who was within his personal residence and had the firearm in his possession solely for self-defense."
While it's not particularly recommended for a 1911 type weapon, some folks will lower the hammer on a loaded chamber. This was actually fairly common in some law enforcement circles who didn't want the general public seeing them walking around with a "cocked" weapon. Depending on the circumstances, I do the same thing with my CZ75B which is a double action that doesn't have a decocking lever. I'm not sure if the Para-Ord 1911 types with the "Light Double Action" have a decocking lever, but they could also be carried with a hammer down on a live chamber and ready to go with just a squeeze of the trigger.
...certainly it's a trivial point, and regardless, what the LVPD did to Erik Scott appears to be completely unwarranted, and they should be charged with negligent homicide at the bare minimum.
At a minimum, he would still have needed to pull the hammer back. I’ve never met anyone who carried a gun like that with the hammer down and a round chambered. I gather it is like carrying a Colt SA revolver with 6 rounds loaded...
I tried to look it up the other day. The only poll I found was on a LEO forum, and about 5% carried hammer down on a round in a 1911. Scott’s gun was a Kimber.
Actually it's quite safe; the only risky part is actually pulling the trigger to lower the hammer on a live chamber. Of course, JMB designed the 1911 to be carried with a round chambered and the weapon on safe. To my knowledge, Kimber doesn't make a double action 1911-type (like Para-Ord does) so it's most likely, as you originally said he didn't even have a round chambered. In any case, Scott was unecessarily gunned down.
He had six times the normally lethal concentration of morphine in his blood. He had one times the normally lethal concentration of Xanax in his blood. He also had other levels of drugs in his system. Combining morphine and Xanax even at normal levels can be dangerous. He either took an overdose or he obtained the drugs illegally to obtain that level in his system over an extended period of time. Morphine is tightly regulated.
The evidence was given by the coroner at the inquest. You may have to look at the pictures at the Las Vegas Sun to see the slides she presented.
It should be clarified that's only true for the Colt 80 series and subsequent models with the firing pin safety. Older weapons should not be carried in what Jeff Cooper called "Condition Two" (hammer down on a loaded chamber).
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