[Grunthor]

Investigators have interviewed more than 40 witnesses, including more than a dozen who said they saw Scott with the gun in his hand and out of his waistband, Neville said.

[DJ MacWoW]

I'm sure that's what the cops say. A witness in one of the other articles was 8 - 10 feet away from Scott, on his right. He said Scott was raising his hands and they were empty. Other earlier articles say his gun was still zipped in it's holster.

I thought the Oakland cop was innocent. These guys are not.

[chris_bdba]

No that is not what the witnesses have said they said he removed it from his waistband but it was still in a zipped holster. That is what I read yesterday in one of the articles posted.

[Fundamentally Fair]

40 - 12 = 28

Your mileage may vary.

[ken in texas]

Well... if he was told to drop it, wouldn’t he have to grab it with his hand so he could do so? Maybe he should have had a magic gun that he could drop on voice command. /s

[Mr Rogers]

“Investigators have interviewed more than 40 witnesses, including more than a dozen who said they saw Scott with the gun in his hand and out of his waistband, Neville said.”

That would make about 30 (more than 40 - more than a dozen) who said his hands were empty (or that they couldn’t see, in which case they aren’t really witnesses).

People see what they expect to see. If there is a police shooting, they expect to see the other guy with a gun. They do NOT expect to see the other guy with empty hands.

There is also NO WAY that they ‘don’t know if there is video’ by now. The video may be inconclusive (ie, it may not be possible to see Scott’s hands), but they know if there is video.

Anyone know if they found any drugs in Scott’s body? Or turn up any indication that Scott wanted to commit suicide by cop? The cops guns were already drawn, according to what I’ve read previously. There aren’t many who try to outdraw a drawn gun - although a drawn gun doesn’t prevent the bearer from being shot.

I think 2 things are obvious:

1 - The cops badly mishandled this. You do NOT try to take down an armed suspect in a crowd!

2 - If, heaven forbid, I ever shoot someone in self defense, I’ll be held to a higher standard of restraint and self-control than these cops demonstrated.

[toldyou]

“..including more than a dozen who said they saw Scott with the gun in his hand and out of his waistband, Neville said.”

First of all, Erik was aware that the employee saw the gun inside the store. The police were aware of the gun. IF indeed Erik had a gun in his hand, I believe it’s because one of the cops said, “Drop it,” and he was complying.