Inquest set in shooting at Costco

A jury will convene Sept. 3 for the coroner's inquest into the fatal shooting of 38-year-old Erik Scott, who was killed by three Las Vegas police officers this month outside a busy Summerlin Costco.

Police said three officers responding to a call about a man with a gun who was acting erratically shot Scott in the afternoon of July 10 because Scott did not comply with orders to lie on the ground and put his hands up. Instead, police said, Scott pulled a pistol from his waistband and pointed it at an officer.

Police said that they have spoken to 40 witnesses and that more than a dozen said they saw Scott pull a gun. The Review-Journal has interviewed seven witnesses. Three said Scott drew a gun, but none of them said they saw him point it at police officers.

Scott, a West Point and Duke graduate who sold pacemakers for a living, had a permit to carry concealed weapons.

Police, citing an ongoing investigation, have not released the recording of the 911 call from a Costco employee. In an attempt to retrieve video of the shooting, police sent the hard drive from the store's surveillance system to a police agency in Southern California for forensic review.

Three officers have been placed on routine paid administrative leave pending the outcomes of the investigation and inquest. They are William Mosher, 38, a five-year veteran of the department; Joshua Stark, 28, a two-year veteran; and Thomas Mendiola, 23, also a two-year veteran.

The shooting was not the first for Mosher, who in April 2006 was one of two officers who shot and killed a suspect in a car.

Bill Scott, Erik Scott's father and a former Air Force colonel, told the Review-Journal that multiple officers might have been shouting different orders at his son, confusing him before the shooting.

Ross Goodman, an attorney representing the Scott family, said he is frustrated with many aspects of how Las Vegas police are handling their investigation of the shooting. He said he wants police to release the 911 recording, with any Costco security camera recordings of the shooting.

"Metro keeps on talking about conflicting witness accounts, but they haven't released the tapes," Goodman said. "Let the truth be told."

Goodman called the upcoming inquest a one-sided process because lawyers for victims' families aren't allowed to call or cross-examine witnesses. He also criticized the inquest as being filtered through the lens of the state.

The inquest process has been heavily criticized, including by the local ACLU, because only once in recent history has an inquest jury not found an officer's actions justified or excusable.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.

Trending topics:

• Antonio Planas
• CORONER'S INQUEST
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• Erik Scott
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• police

Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. Leo.Fassbinder Jul. 23, 2010 | 1:35 p.m. Report Abuse

   Could the police (and Costco) have viewed the video at the store, before the police removed the hard drives/tapes/storage medium? If not, then what good are the surveillance cameras to Costco?
   
   Most big retailers are able to scroll back through video right on the spot. Store security can even verify a shopper lifted something before they confront the shoplifter.
   
   The only thing I can think of in the shooting case is that the police did not want to view the video at the store, nor did they want the store to have a chance to make copies. Instead, the police seized the drives or tapes, and they don't have the technology to get playback.

2. SummerlinCC Jul. 23, 2010 | 12:34 a.m. Report Abuse

   In the "inquiring minds" category-
   
   Officer Mosher left a job as a prison guard in Massachusetts to come to Las Vegas. According to one commenter, Mosher was working as security guard in the Westward Ho casino before he began working for Metro.
   
   So here are two of my questions-
   
   1. Did Mosher apply to be a cop back home? If so, why wasn't he accepted onto any of their police forces?
   
   2. If Mosher was working at a casino when he first got to Vegas, why did he leave a unionized job as a prison guard in Massachusetts to take a job as a security guard in Las Vegas?
   
   Just curious...

3. SummerlinCC Jul. 22, 2010 | 10:37 p.m. Report Abuse

   Yo-yo, the US Department of Justice has the jurisdiction and authority to investigate Metro PD's practices. DOJ is as much a part of the process as the coroner's inquest. Once DOJ gets involved the FBI is used, oftentimes case using out-of-state agents depending on the nature of the case. I've posted the e-mail address for ASST AG Thomas Perez for those that think DOJ should take a look at Metro. It's
   
   Tom.Perez@usdoj.gov
   
   Most large police departments in the country are located in heavily populated states, so the outside oversight is not much of a problem. Vegas is different. In the private sector, if a company has so much power in a specific industry without any checks and balances, anti-trust laws apply and monopolies get broken up.
   
   I'm not so sure Metro PD shouldn't be broken up into 2 or 3 smaller departments. It's been done in other places before.
   
   For the time being, we've got a dangerous situation when there are virtually no checks and balances on the government's ability to take a human life.

4. Yo-yo Jul. 22, 2010 | 8:29 p.m. Report Abuse

   What outside agency would you choose?
   
   Henderson? With their 4 or 5 homicides a year?
   
   The state, which passes its homicide investigations to the local police?
   
   You are still going to fall back onto using the agency, since they have the tools to complete the CSI type tests.

5. S.L. Dangerous Jul. 22, 2010 | 9:57 a.m. Report Abuse

   I concur - an outside agency should be investigating officer involved shootings due to the high number occuring of late. I'm a big supporter of police but when you are approaching the average annual number of OIS in half a year it may be more than coincidence.

6. TankerUSMA1975 Jul. 22, 2010 | 7:23 a.m. Report Abuse

   Yo-Yo
   
   The best way to find out is to have them all testify and compare the stories. Show the video, that is if the "technical issues" haven't conviently erased it. Play the 911 call, or better yet, have an outside agency conduct the investigation and let the chips fall where they may.

7. Yo-yo Jul. 22, 2010 | 6:24 a.m. Report Abuse

   So, how many of the fools that believe the media hype are going to recant and apologize for 2 months of spreading lies and rumors?
   
   I know, the media won't, so why should you!
   
   Ross Goodman doesn't care about the public knowing. He just needs to see the video and listen to the 911 call, so he knows not to waste anymore time on this case!!!
   
   Tanker, think about it. Do you believe all 40 were close enough or were in the exact position to see what Scott was doing?
   
   You can get every single one of their statements, as well as the media, after the investigation. Of course, the media prefers to use the "anonymous" witness that never talked to police.

8. TankerUSMA1975 Jul. 22, 2010 | 5:20 a.m. Report Abuse

   So will all 40 witnesses testify at the Inquest or will we only hear from the 12 Metro found that support Metro's version of events? Want to bet that they won't be able to show the tapes unless the tapes support Metro's version.