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Joined: Feb 2002
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Campfire 'Bwana
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OP
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 32,044 |
Erik Scott was a West Point graduate who went on to serve honorably in the Army, get his MBA from Duke and establish a lucrative career in real estate and as a sales rep for a medical device company. He was 38 years old when he was gunned down in portico of a Las Vegas area Costco store by officers from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department. While it was 7 bullets from the only people we�re supposed to trust with guns that snuffed out Erik Scott�s life, what really killed him was an irrational fear of firearms � hoplophobia.
Scott and his girlfriend had been shopping in the Costco, but had been asked to leave when an employee spotted Scott�s lawfully carried handgun. Scott had inadvertently exposed the gun when he squatted down to inspect some merchandise. He informed the employee that he was legally carrying the gun and was in possession of a valid Nevada concealed weapons permit, but was informed that Costco has a policy against carrying firearms in their stores.
A brief argument ensued, some raised voices and obvious frustration on Scott�s part, but witnesses said it didn�t seem like a big deal. They saw nothing particularly threatening about the incident or the clean-cut, good looking young man. The store manager who had spoken with Scott seemed satisfied by Scott�s reassurance that he was a legal firearm carrier and would be finished with his shopping in a few minutes. But a store Loss Prevention Officer called the police and reported that an armed man was behaving erratically in the store.
That report, based on irrational fear, and perhaps some personal envy, triggered events which quickly spiraled out of control. It seems that the fear factor was taken up a notch with each description of the story to the point that responding officers believed they were going into a violent hostage situation with a heavily armed and dangerous Green Beret.
Las Vegas MPD responded with a city-wide alert, street closures, helicopter support and deployment of a Mobile Command Center. The first officers on the scene arrived as Costco employees were following telephone instructions from the police to calmly evacuate the store.
As Scott and his girlfriend fell in with other patrons flowing out of the exit door, the Loss Prevention Officer who started the whole mess pointed toward Scott and a police officer at the door suddenly began yelling �Stop! I said Stop! Drop the gun! Get on the ground! Get on the ground!�
He fired these conflicting commands in quick succession giving Scott no opportunity to comply with any of them and then fired two rounds at Scott�s chest. As the officer began yelling and Scott realized he was the subject of the commands, he turned, lifting his hands, and apparently tried to follow the legal requirement to immediately inform an officer that he was an armed weapons permit holder, but he didn�t have time.
The officer�s frantic orders lasted for a slow count of 3 and were immediately followed by the two gunshots, a momentary pause, and a volley of several more shots. There was no pause or hesitation between the commands and the shots. The first round struck Erik Scott in the heart, the second hit his right thigh. As he collapsed to the ground, two other officers fired 5 more shots into his back. Numerous witnesses reported that they saw Scott turn and declare that he was a permit holder. Many said they could see both of his hands and that he made no threatening move. All agreed that the only gun they saw was the one in Scott�s waistband on his right hip.
Other witnesses reported that they saw Scott�s body removed by EMTs and saw nothing on the ground except blood and a cell phone, or sun glasses. EMTs reported that they removed Scott�s gun and holster from the waistband of his jeans in the ambulance and that they saw no other gun, yet, after police broke into Scott�s apartment and confiscated the firearms there, the story came out that Scott was carrying two guns that day.
A picture of the second gun, on the ground near a cell phone, after the blood on the pavement had been cleaned up, is the �proof� that Scott had two guns and pulled one on MPD officers. The store�s video surveillance system inexplicably malfunctioned for the several seconds of the shooting.
A coroner�s inquest concluded that the shooting was justified, just as a similar inquest had concluded that the gunning down of an unarmed, small-time pot dealer in his apartment a short time before the Scott shooting was ruled to be justified. Just as such coroner�s inquests have concluded that officer involved shootings were justified in 199 out of 200 incidents since 1976.
Erik Scott�s family has strongly contested the conclusions of the coroner�s inquest and the entire inquest process. They succeeded in getting some changes made to that process, but those changes have been held up by suits from the police union.
The Scott�s filed a wrongful death suit in federal court, but recently dropped that effort, convinced that they had no hope of winning with the system stacked against them.
Erik Scott�s father, a former Air Force flight test engineer and writer for the prestigious aerospace magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology, has painted a sympathetic, fictionalized portrait of Erik and the events of that day as part of a new novel he is offering in serialized form at ThePermit.blogspot.com in hopes of maintaining awareness of Erik�s tragic death and bringing attention to corruption within the justice system and government of Las Vegas.
The police have a difficult job. They are put in positions and asked to do things that most of us would run away from, but authority and power must be tempered with responsibility and accountability. For decades lawmakers and courts have built up walls of protection around police and other government workers. It is critical that these public servants be protected from frivolous suits and baseless harassment, but they must be held accountable for their actions and investigations into their activities must be beyond reproach. That is not the case currently.
When one person�s irrational fear of a peacefully armed man can result in that man being gunned down by police with no consequences for anyone except the victim and his friends and family, something is terribly, terribly wrong. Hoplophobia killed Erik Scott and a corrupt system allowed his accusers and executioners get away with it.
A Doe walks out of the woods today and says, that is the last time I'm going to do that for Two Bucks.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 490
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 490 |
This was a horrible incident. One that should never be forgotten, but it's a bit disingenuous to post the story without noting that it occurred two years ago.
It would be interesting to know what has happened to the LEOs involved in this. Do you happen to have that info?
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 32,044
Campfire 'Bwana
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OP
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 32,044 |
Yes it happened two years ago and the family is trying to get justice for their son and that is why it is in the news today.
A Doe walks out of the woods today and says, that is the last time I'm going to do that for Two Bucks.
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261 |
Yes it happened two years ago and the family is trying to get justice for their son and that is why it is in the news today. Good luck in trying to get justice from the state and I don't mean Nevada.
Don't vote knothead, it only encourages them. Anonymous
"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." Anonymous
"Self-reliance, free thinking, and wealth is anathema to both the power of the State and the Church." Derby Dude
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 18,453 |
A brief argument ensued, some raised voices and obvious frustration on Scott�s part, but witnesses said it didn�t seem like a big deal. They saw nothing particularly threatening about the incident or the clean-cut, good looking young man. The store manager who had spoken with Scott seemed satisfied by Scott�s reassurance that he was a legal firearm carrier and would be finished with his shopping in a few minutes. But a store Loss Prevention Officer called the police and reported that an armed man was behaving erratically in the store.
That report, based on irrational fear, and perhaps some personal envy, triggered events which quickly spiraled out of control. It seems that the fear factor was taken up a notch with each description of the story to the point that responding officers believed they were going into a violent hostage situation with a heavily armed and dangerous Green Beret.
I can't find anything about this story. Is the family suing Costco now or something to that effect ?
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,100
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,100 |
You can shear a sheep many times.But you can only skin him once!
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 27,500
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 27,500 |
Horrible tragedy. I need to contact Costco and see if this is still thier policy and if it is, will need to cancel my membership there.
Sickening tragedy.
LOVE God, LOVE your family, LOVE your country, LIKE guns and sports.
About 2016 team "R" candidates "We definitely need a crew with a sack of balls the size of hot water bottles, bloviated estrogen leaking feel-gooders need not apply." Gunner 500
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 132,048 Likes: 65
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 132,048 Likes: 65 |
Las Vegas MPD responded with a city-wide alert, street closures, helicopter support and deployment of a Mobile Command Center. The first officers on the scene arrived as Costco employees were following telephone instructions from the police to calmly evacuate the store.
When the police have this sort of massive apparatus designed essentially for waging war against Americans within our national borders, they are damned sure going to be eager to put it into action at every possible opportunity. Leaves little doubt we're living in a police state.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 132,048 Likes: 65
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 132,048 Likes: 65 |
Yes it happened two years ago and the family is trying to get justice for their son and that is why it is in the news today. The cops here have a rule. If it happened more than a month ago, you can't report it here because it's old news. If, however, it happened less than a month ago, you can't report it here because it's too fresh, and insufficient time has been permitted for all the pertinent facts to come out. Make sure to consult these rules before you post your next story here about cops doing stuff most folks don't approve of.
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 19,328 Likes: 27
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 19,328 Likes: 27 |
Too bad there aren't anymore Anse Hatfield types left to deal out some good old fashioned country justice to the offending officers.
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,554 |
If I recall, this got a lot of bandwitdth when it happened.
"I Birn Quhil I Se" MacLeod of Lewis I Burn While I See Hold Fast MacLeod of Harris
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 18,453 |
When The police have this sort of massive apparatus designed essentially for waging preventing war against Americans within our national borders, they are damned sure going to be eager to put it into action at every possible opportunity. Leaves little doubt we're living in a police state.
Edited for folks living in reality.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 62,043 |
Witness accounts paint a entirely different story. The agendized,predisposed disenfranchised like hawkie ignore these accounts for reasons other than being intellectually dishonest and lazy. ====================== http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/24/coroners-inquest-day3/
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. William Arthur Ward
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Joined: Nov 2006
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,570 |
"Edited for folks living in reality"
horseshitt!
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,296 Likes: 6
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,296 Likes: 6 |
OUCH, it really pisses ya off when people start shootin' ya.
Gunner
Trump Won!
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 32,044
Campfire 'Bwana
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OP
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 32,044 |
What pisses you off more is when other police take up for and make excuses for this kind of police abuse of power
A Doe walks out of the woods today and says, that is the last time I'm going to do that for Two Bucks.
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,296 Likes: 6
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,296 Likes: 6 |
Yes, I understand that too, really sucks.
Gunner
Trump Won!
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Joined: Sep 2009
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,296 Likes: 6 |
If I lived in a hostile state and liked my guns, I would pack up and move to Oklahoma, none finer iffin ya like your guns and dont wanna be shot by the Police.
Gunner
Trump Won!
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Joined: Nov 2002
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 18,484 Likes: 2 |
FWIW, Costco has tinfoil on sale.
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