The past 2-3 days of testimony has not revealed much new information. Most of the witnesses have been employees of Costco or shoppers. Most have said a variation of the same thing. They saw Scott raise his arm, most said with a gun. and pointed it at the first officer. Some said the cop was right to shoot while others have said maybe the cop should have not have fired.
However, we are talking about the first two shots. No one has addressed the follow up shots, and the shots that were fire after he dropped the gun, which was always holstered. The officers that fired those shots have not been called to testify.
http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2010/01/pawn-stars-review-january-25-2010.html
I still remain convinced that the cops are not criminally negligent but they are guilty of poor judgement and reactions. I think they went in there with an attitude of shoot first and then ask questions later. The cops were overly aggressive and did not have a plan ready. For instance, the cops ordered the store evacuated but did not plan on Scott coming out like he did. Clearly, not a wise plan.
So, we will have another day or two of questions, the case will go to a jury. They will deliberate for 2 hours and say the cops were justified.
Then the Scott family will file a lawsuit and then settle for a large out of court settlement. and we will never hear the truth of what happened that day up in Summerlin.
The Las Vegas Badger is about politics, humor, sports, reality shows in Las Vegas, especially Pawn Stars and anything else interesting. While I live in Las Vegas, my heart is still in Wisconsin. Thanks for visiting the blog and feel free to browse the web site.
I'm the wife of a veteran Metro Officer and sister to an HPD officer.
ReplyDeleteI think it's so hard for the citizens to understand how the officers are trained. I know my husband says they are told never bring a knife to a gunfight. So when an officer is told in advance the suspect has a weapon, guns drawn is the norm. If they don't have their gun out, they are dead before having a chance to pull their gun. Training is there to keep the officers alive. Officers have families. My husband and I have four. Why is an officer's life worth less and worth the gamble to guess what the suspect might be doing?
The officers reacted to the situation they were presented with. Scott made no attempt to obey to putting his hands up nor to getting on the ground. He stood there reaching for something. The officers cannot just wait to see what that something might be. One officer was giving commands. That is standard, that one officer is the officer doing the talking to the subject. They had been told by dispatch that he had a gun. The person reporting from Costco had given that information.
The officers rely on what is relayed to them via dispatch, that information was received directly from Shay from the Coscto.
I think the Scott family has really painted their son as a saint. I understand and feel for their loss, believe me, as a mother I could not imagine. But to have them say he was just an innocent victim is not at all accurate. He knew well the rules regarding carrying a CCW. He was not to do so under the influence of his medication. He was in the military and with the CCW training he was taught how to surrender to police without it ending in any bloodshed. He choose how the day played out.
For the life of me I can't imagine why he would not just put his hands in the air. Why reach in your pants, in your shirt or anywhere? That is an aggressive action on his part. How are the police to know what his intent is? All they see is him disobeying and reaching for something.
There has been no civil rights violation by either Costco or Metro. Costco as a private company does have the right to remove a customer for any reason. The fact that they told Scott they didn't allow weapons, and his reaction to that, speaks volumes. I feel that their attorney is using them to gain attention and fame. His behavior is criminal in taking this family and making them think their son was in the right. He was wrong. All he had to do was put his hands up. That's all he had to do.
When confronted by an officer with a drawn weapon, all one has to do is put their hands up and follow the commands given.
Believe me, officers do not enjoy taking a life. The Scott family attorney has painted it otherwise.
Again I am sorry for the loss they suffered. But their attorney is taking them for a ride. To take advantage of them in this way, is simply horrific.
Thank you for your post. A family member of a police officer is highly stressed. As a wife (or husband) of an officer, when you say good by and the officer goes to work, you never know if your husband or wife will or will not come home.
ReplyDeleteOfficers are not perfect- they are human beings and they need to be hel accountable because they dealing with other people's lives, every day. The officers have the ability to change a person's life in a brief moment- to arrest or not arrest, to shoot or not shoot and it is a highly stressful job and not many people can do the job.
God speed with your family and the officers in your family. They provide a valuable service to our community.
I agree with the wife of the cop, who posted above on 9/27. I'm not a big fan of police anywhere. I see lots of videos of police abusing their power. In this case, though, I can see why a license to have a concealed weapon doesn't include the right to carry while medications or alcohol are impairing one's judgement. Scott was the equivalent of stoned. Why would he tell a Costco employee that he's a Green Beret when he's not and never was? Why say that he's back from Iraq when he was never there? This guy was not himself. He was the equivalent of drunk and he should have known better than to go out in public like with a gun. Once you do that, you are responsible for what happens. When you're not obeying police, you have a gun, and they see that you're acting strangely, all bets are off.
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