17 shooting witnesses testify; proceedings to continue 10 a.m. Monday

Wendy Wolkenstein never saw a gun in Erik Scott's hand.

That didn't mean she saw no threat.

As she left the Summerlin Costco store, she found herself near Scott as a Las Vegas police officer held him at gunpoint and shouted at him to get on the ground.

Scott responded by raising his right hand toward his waist, and she quickly pushed her two children behind a stone pillar for safety, Wolkenstein said.

Then she heard the gunshots.

"I just wish Erik just would have gotten to the ground," she testified Saturday. "It's very upsetting."

She was among a parade of 17 witnesses to testify during the fourth day of a Clark County coroner's inquest into Scott's July 10 death at the hands of Las Vegas police officers William Mosher, Joshua Stark and Thomas Mendiola.

A Costco employee called police because the 38-year-old medical device salesman was acting erratically, carrying a gun in the store and refusing to leave. Scott's postmortem blood test showed high levels of the painkiller morphine and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.

Although eyewitness accounts usually contain inconsistencies, a majority of witnesses Saturday said they either saw Scott pull a gun or thought he was about to do so when his hand went to his hip. Most also said they heard just one officer shouting at Scott to get on the ground.

Shopper Dain Szafranski testified that he was leaving the store with his mother and 2-year-old son when he heard a police officer yelling at someone to get on the ground.

He said he turned and saw Scott standing in front of the officer, displaying what appeared to be argumentative body language and tone of voice. Suddenly, Scott reached for his hip as if to draw a weapon, he said.

"It looked like two people were going to have a gunfight," said Szafranski, who graduated from a local police academy earlier this year but does not work for the police.

Szafranski said he immediately turned and ran toward the parking lot as several shots were fired. After ensuring his family was safe behind some cars, he returned to the store, expecting to find several gunshot victims.

But he saw only Scott on the ground, with a holstered handgun near his body.

Another witness, Eileen Nelson, said she exited the store and saw an officer with his gun aimed at Scott.

"He yelled, 'Get down. Get down on the ground.' That's when Mr. Scott slowly turned and lifted his right arm," she said.

As he turned, Scott had a holster in his hand and pointed in the direction of the officer, Nelson said.

He was holding the holster as if to show someone something, she said.

Evelyn Eckels was outside when she looked toward a commotion and saw the front of Scott as he faced an officer.

"He looked very angry, and he was looking right at the police officer," she said. "In a matter of seconds, I saw a gun."

He pointed the gun toward the police officer, she said.

"I put my hands to my face and said, 'Oh my God, he's got a gun,' " Eckels said.

She opened her eyes after the gunfire and saw Scott lying on the ground.

She did not give police a statement at the scene but contacted them a few days after the incident. Eckels said she had seen media reports that Scott was unarmed and wanted to tell them that she saw a gun.

Shopper Karen Passarelli-Krause testified that as she left the store she walked right into the confrontation between Scott and an officer, who was close enough that she could touch him.

Passarelli-Krause said she froze as Scott pulled his gun.

"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.

That's when she heard a gunshot and saw the object fall to the ground, she said.

Robert Connolly said the object he saw was clearly a gun: "He reached back, pulled a gun in the holster and tried to give it to the cop."

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.

Albright said concealed weapons permit holders are trained to never draw a gun in front of police. They're supposed to tell the officer about the weapon and follow instructions, he said.

Several witnesses testified Saturday that they never saw a gun before Scott was shot.

Dr. Humberto Rodriguez Jr. said he had just left the store when he heard someone yelling.

"He kept insisting that someone put the gun down and get on their knees," Rodriguez said. He described Scott as "frozen in time. He wasn't moving. He looked like a deer in the headlights."

Then Scott's right arm moved toward his waist and the first two shots were fired, he said.

Scott turned around, gasping for breath. He collapsed to one knee when the other officers shot him from behind, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez testified that Scott was not acting crazy and said police should have reacted differently.

He recounted an incident about a year ago where he called police because his mentally ill brother was violent and threatening relatives with a rake. He said officers in that incident used a Taser to stun his brother, who didn't have a weapon at that time.

"Maybe they could have saved Erik Scott by Tasing him and not shooting him," Rodriguez said.

His wife, Jo Ann Rodriguez, testified that she also saw Scott's right arm by his side but saw nothing in his hand.

She recalled Scott turning toward her and falling to his knees.

"I remember going, 'No. No. No. He's down.' He wasn't going to hurt anybody."

Dr. Edward Fishman, another shopper, recalled standing outside the store and watching the shooting unfold.

" 'Drop it. Drop it,' is what I heard," Fishman said. "There was nothing in Mr. Scott's hands to be dropped."

Both doctors said they were disturbed by the lack of medical treatment Scott received after he was shot, yet both said they were too shocked to volunteer to help.

John Cooper, a retired Army colonel, also was troubled by the delayed medical care for Scott, who was shot seven times.

"Why isn't somebody trying to help him?" Cooper said he wondered. "Somebody should have done something to help him."

After several minutes passed, he saw police officers run into the parking lot to flag down a medical unit stuck in the mass exodus of cars. The paramedics left the vehicle and ran to Scott's side.

Cooper testified that Scott made an "abnormal gesture" toward his right hip, but said he did not think it was threatening.

Scott family lawyer Ross Goodman has said he has a list of 20 to 25 witnesses who did not see a gun in Scott's hand, but he would not provide the list to prosecutors so they could be called to testify in the inquest.

"They're not going to testify in a kangaroo court," he said Friday.

Fishman and the Rodriguezes were likely on the list, however, as they testified they had talked to Goodman's private investigator.

Authorities have said they plan to call about 50 witnesses before the seven-member jury is asked to determine whether the shooting was justified, excusable or criminal. Testimony will continue at 10 a.m. Monday.

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 383-0281.

Trending topics:

• coroner's inquest
• Erik Scott
• Las Vegas Police
• police shooting
• Ross Goodman
• Clark County coroner

Comments

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1. he hate me Sep. 27, 2010 | 11:07 p.m. Report Abuse

   Metro kills more.... NO!!!!!!! Metro just gets the job done better. They are here to serve Las Vegas. no more pizza great post. if you touch las vegas(little)girl u might want to go visit your doctor.

2. RealityKingpin Sep. 27, 2010 | 3:55 p.m. Report Abuse

   Bghs I'm done...... you just simply know any better. Prolly never will. Obviously drugs is not the reason to shoot someone.... but people on drugs do bad things ... Things that if they weren't addicted they probably wouldn't . Therefore it IS a FACTOR. When your a dope dealer you put yourself at risk for what comes with it. Therefore on a personal level I don't feel for them..... Get job..... Don't be a leech on society...put the dope away.... Don't rob...comply with officer.. Argue after.... Don't rape.... Don't gang bang and you are highly unlikely to ever be shot. These are facts even you cannot really deny.

3. bghs1986 Sep. 27, 2010 | 3:26 p.m. Report Abuse

   While I based my assertion on facts which I have supplied. I can use population as an equalizer or local crime stats and still Metro kills more. If I am wrong then prove it and tell me who does kill more often than Metro. What you never seem to grasp is that criminal history or drug use have never been justifications for an OIS. You know that. While those factors may make it okay in your mind they are not a excuse for the use of force. The Constitution is clear as are the Supreme courts decisions. I am not a cop hater because I don't want cops to kill people they just don't like or because its just easier and they know they can get away with it. The current oversight doesn't assure me that that doesn't ever happen. Funny, I view the Scott shooting more justified under the current standard, although I am disappointed the officers put so many people in jeopardy. Because I think cops should be more prudent doesn't make me a hater.

4. RealityKingpin Sep. 27, 2010 | 2:53 p.m. Report Abuse

   Simmply put, To say that MEtro Kills more is ridiculous.......Its not even compareable, due to too many factors to contemplate to make it s good comparison....Either way, Its inspiring that you are so worried about others getting killed...........But no matter what you say, it wont change the fact that if you follow a officers instructions, if you are not whacked out on every drug in the universe......If you are not Robbing , raping, or killing people, then your chances of being shot by METRO are probably 1 in 1,000,000,000. Will you dispute this hypothetical stat?.........................You see in the end, this is what I care most about....when Metro starts shooting people who are compliant, not robbing raping, or murdering, or pulling weapons on them, or refusing to leave their house for a search warrant., then please wake me....until then, I shed not any tears for those, nor will I. i will admit that Scotts case is probably the one where the dead was the LEAST criminal of any I had seen prior......Typically the arrest history for ANYONE shot is lengthy to say the least..........and Id venture to say 99% of those shot were on drugs. Scott made bad decisions.......I WILL NOT HOLD THAT AGAINST THE COP, who was doing his job. Kingpin, out.

5. bghs1986 Sep. 27, 2010 | 2:49 p.m. Report Abuse

   And don't forget to include you LE experience since it was you who said an oppinion without is wasn't very reliable.

6. bghs1986 Sep. 27, 2010 | 2:41 p.m. Report Abuse

   Your argument. Your stats. Did I say go look it up for yourself when you asked me to prove my theory. I assumed you based this theory on some actual knowledge of the facts. I believe Metro would never let me foget it if their cops are attacked more. You made the claim. Are you just making it up or can you actually support your argument?

7. bghs1986 Sep. 27, 2010 | 2:33 p.m. Report Abuse

   My claim was that Metro KILLS more often, and I proved that with documented stats. Have you provided any thing proving Vegas cops are attacked more? You have given me with an answer that is suported by nothing. Just typing the word fact doesn't nake it so. You said prove it. I did. So be honorable and do the same for me.

8. RealityKingpin Sep. 27, 2010 | 2:27 p.m. Report Abuse

   Go check FBI stats

9. bghs1986 Sep. 27, 2010 | 2:21 p.m. Report Abuse

   K.P. That would be a convincing and acceptable argument. If it were true. Is it? Show me that the deadly force experienced by officers of Metro are higher than say Philly, Houston or Los Angeles. If you could show Las Vegas cops are actually presented with more truly dangerous individuals than other cities, you have offered an convincing explanation. I assume you have more than conjecture to support your position, right? You have actual facts?

10. RealityKingpin Sep. 27, 2010 | 2:20 p.m. Report Abuse

    Ive been stopped by Metro scores of times....Gun pointed at me once as a teen.....it is with Cole, and SCott.....Even been arrested by METRO! ......I have followed orders and had no problems.....Got ticketed a few times.....And all these times you know what was constant??? I deserved it every time!!! No excuses.....It was my fault. And so ...Every time I see a shooting here the suspects started it......continued it...adn the COP finished it. Period. Dont start no crap wont be no crap. BGHS let these facts hit ya.: Facts COPS DONT shoot more here in VEGAS......FACT...Officers are attacked more often here in Vegas.....Fact......Scott is 100% to blame. Cop is the Victim, here. FAct.......those that disagree just dont know, nor do they want to....go on a ride along..............

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