Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Did Las Vegas Metro Police Shoot Veteran Prematurely?
A lawyer representing the family of a man fatally shot by police at a Las Vegas membership warehouse store denied police reports Monday that the man had pulled out a handgun and pointed it at police.
Erik Scott, 39, had at least one handgun with him at the time of the shooting Saturday, but also had a concealed weapon permit, attorney Ross Goodman said.
"He did not pull a handgun," Goodman said. "All the witnesses we've heard from have said he did not make any threatening gestures, and didn't do anything that could be construed as acting in a threatening manner."...
[Full Article]
Metro IDs officers in fatal shooting at Summerlin Costco
Metro Police on Monday said a man fatally shot by officers at a Costco store in Summerlin had pointed a gun at an officer before three officers fired their weapons, killing the man.
Police identified the three officers in the Saturday shooting as Officer William Mosher, 38, who has been with the department since June 2005; Officer Joshua Stark, 28, with the department since September 2008; and Officer Thomas Mendiola, 23, with the department since March 2009.
All officers are part of the Northwest Area Command Patrol Division. The Clark County Coroner's Office has identified the man killed as Erik Scott, 38, of Las Vegas.
[Full Article]SUMMERLIN COSTCO STORE: Slaying of Army veteran shocks friends
The man shot by police outside a Summerlin Costco store on Saturday was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a master's degree from Duke University, friends said.
Army veteran Erik Scott, 39, was at the store near Charleston Boulevard and the Las Vegas Beltway with his girlfriend before three officers fatally shot him in a confrontation.
Friends and an attorney speaking on behalf of Scott's relatives, described him as a good man from a military family. His father was in the Air Force, and his grandfather fought in World War II, friend Mike Pusateri said. "The most loyal, honest, trustworthy, salt-of-the-earth guy you could meet," said Pusateri, 38. "You only meet one or two of those kinds of guys in your life, and Erik is one of them." Scott worked for Boston Scientific, a medical devices manufacturer, as a sales representative for the company's pacemakers. Attorney Ross Goodman, who represents Scott's family, said Scott was one of the company's top sales employees...
Conflicting Accounts of Officer Involved Shooting Emerge
...Attorney Ross Goodman represents Scott's family. He says Scott never pulled a gun and was not acting in a threatening way toward officers. He says other witnesses will back that up. Some comments on 8NewsNOW.com from people who claim to have witnessed the shooting agree with Goodman.
One person wrote, "I saw the whole thing go down from start to finish, and the cops were trigger happy. The guy never had a chance." "I was there, and I never saw this guy do anything with his gun," another person wrote. "The police started shooting immediately after ‘drop it' was yelled."
Metro officers say they haven't heard those eyewitness accounts yet and encourage anyone who saw anything to contact them.
"It sounds like he was trying to show the police his gun by lifting up his shirt," Castillo said. "These guys, they fired prematurely."
Captain Neville says 911 calls will prove otherwise. "I could clearly hear the officers giving commands to the individual to get him on the ground," he said. "You could hear people yelling and screaming in the background. You could hear the shots being fired." "When you listen to that, it definitely sends a chill down your spine," Capt. Neville said.
Goodman says he hopes surveillance video, along with the witnesses he's hearing from, will show Scott did nothing wrong.
[Full Article]
Labels: Erik Scott, Las Vegas, Nevada, police, shooting
Monday, May 31, 2010
At the St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nevada this past Monday, a very unusual and terrifying scene took place that left nearly all its participants in shock -- both out of fear and genuine bewilderment as to how safety planners could be so stupid.
That's because last Monday, an off-duty police officer stormed into the hospital's Sienna campus, where the most sick patients are cared for, and pointed a gun at staff. He then ordered as many as 10 nurses down a hallway and into a room, according to a local report.
It all turned out to be a "safety" drill gone horribly wrong...
Labels: drills, Henderson, Nevada
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - In light of the recent attempt to set off a bomb in New York's Times Square, extra eyes are keeping watch over possible terrorist targets. A national program is training parking attendants to watch for suspicious people.
Las Vegas, one of the hottest tourist spots in the world makes one wonder if what happened in New York could happen here.
"Would you want to come someplace where terrorists are setting off bombs," asks Las Vegas resident Jim Hawkins.
A new government program plans to train parking attendants and meter maids to watch and report anything suspicious...
Labels: Las Vegas, Nevada, program, spying, terrorism
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Even though it’s legal, not everyone comfortable with gun-wearing citizens, especially some police
Just about everybody on the Metro Police force has heard of Tim Farrell, and he sometimes gets mistaken for a law enforcement officer.
Farrell is simply a 29-year-old wireless Internet engineer — and a gun rights crusader. He is one of what appears to be a growing number of people taking up the “open-carry” cause, advocating a constitutional right to openly carry firearms.
“The open-carry movement has gained momentum over the last four or five years because people are waking up to their rights,” Farrell says. “I don’t need a permit to exercise free speech. I don’t need a permit to be tried by a jury if I’m accused of a crime, so why do I need a permit to carry a gun if I have a constitutional right to carry a gun?”
Nevada is a better place than most for Farrell because it is "an open--carry state." Nevada reiterates the right to bear arms in its constitution and does not have blanket restrictions on law-abiding citizens’ open carrying of firearms...
Labels: 2nd amendment, Nevada, open carry
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