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Inquest into Costco Shooting Postponed

LAS VEGAS -- The Clark County Coroner says they have postponed the inquest into an officer involved shooting at a Summerlin Costco.

Erik Scott was killed by Las Vegas police as he left the Costco on July 10. The inquest was originally scheduled for September 3, but has been postponed indefinitely.

The decision to postpone the inquest was made after the Clark County District Attorney's Office requested more time to gather information about the case. Postponing an inquest is rare, but not unheard of.

According to District Attorney David Roger, his office asked for the delay for several reasons. Roger says his office has not received the reports and witness statements from Metro Police. Once the DA's office gets that information, attorney's will need to time to review it. He says there could be 100 to 200 witnesses.

Billboards Feature Man Killed by Las Vegas Police

LAS VEGAS -- Friends and family of Erik Scott, the man shot to death at a Costco store by Las Vegas police, are taking their message to roadside billboards.

The 38-year-old was shot and killed by three Metro officers on July 10th. Although the Coroner's Inquest on the case isn't until September 3rd, Scott's friends and family don't want the public to forget what happened. They are also hoping more people who may have witnessed the event will come forward.

"Our sadness has turned to focus at this point," said Scott's close friend Mike Pusateri. He says he is a man on a mission to make people remember what happened.

"Other families have gone through this inquest process and the story falls away. Until September 3rd, we're going to make sure that doesn't happen," he said.

Witnesses React to Officer Shooting

LAS VEGAS -- A domestic disturbance Sunday night a the Summerhill Pointe Apartments is the third officer involved shooting in eight days.

Police say one man shot another in the leg, and then pointed the gun at officers, forcing them to shoot.

"Everybody's a little on edge. They're all kind of freaked out about the shootings," said neighbor Wayne Pender.

Residents are still in shock from the shooting. Metro says around 3 p.m., family attempting to pick up grandchildren from the apartment called 911 to report the suspect, 27-year-old Dennis Lovelady had a gun on him.

Officers arrived, but since the gun was legally registered to Lovelady, they left. Pender says Lovelady seemed agitated earlier that day. The suspect described as a nuisance was sitting in his friend's car.

Man Critically Injured in Police Shooting Identified

LAS VEGAS -- Metro police are releasing the identity of the suspect shot by officers on Sunday.

Officers critically injured 27-year-old Dennis Lovelady at an apartment complex at the 9500 block of West Sahara near Fort Apache on July 18th.

Police say the situation started as a domestic violence argument between an ex-husband, Lovelady and the woman living at the apartment. Lovelady is accused of shooting the ex-husband in the leg. When two police officers arrived, they report that Lovelady pointed a gun at them and they both shot. The ex-husband is in stable condition.

The two officers are on administrative leave. This was the third officer involved shooting in an eight day period.

 

Police Investigate Third Officer Shooting in 8 Days

LAS VEGAS -- The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is investigating another officer involved shooting.

Around 4:15 p.m., police responded to a domestic violence call involving a suspect with a deadly weapon at the Summerhill Pointe Apartments on Sahara near Fort Apache.

Police say a man, his wife, and her ex-husband got into a fight at an apartment and the husband shot the ex-husband in the leg.

Police say when they arrived, they found the husband and got into a confrontation with him. Two officers shot him multiple times. He was rushed to University Medical Center and sent to surgery. He is in critical condition.

This is the 18th officer involved shooting in Metro's jurisdiction this year. There have been three in the past eight days.

Police Have Not Viewed Costco Surveillance Tapes

LAS VEGAS -- Detectives investigating an officer involved shooting at a Summerlin Costco have still not viewed surveillance video of the incident.

Officers opened fire on Erik Scott on Saturday after Costco employees said he was destroying store merchandise and had a gun. Police say Scott pointed his gun at officers before they fired their weapons, but witness statements contradict information released by investigators. Scott was a West Point graduate with a valid concealed weapons permit.

Detectives hope to view surveillance video of the incident, but have sent it for forensic examination because of a technical issue with Costco's recording equipment. It's still unclear if the incident was even captured on video or if the equipment was working properly the day of the shooting.

Eyewitnesses May be Unreliable in Costco Shooting

LAS VEGAS -- As the investigation continues into the Costco officer involved shooting that killed Erik Scott, a number of witness statements conflict with those reported by Las Vegas police.

Witness statements are valuable to police, but they also have drawbacks. A local defense attorney says in scenes like this, there's only one real eyewitness who will tell the real truth: cameras.

Before 39-year-old Scott was shot and killed by three officers Saturday afternoon, did he pull out a gun? Did officers give Scott enough time to comply before shooting? Metro says yes, but a number of witness statements are suggesting something else happened.

"I'm not surprised that there's a lot of varying accounts of what happened," said attorney Joel Mann.

Mann says in situations where emotions are high and adrenaline is running, our memories aren't the most reliable.