By Zanub Saeed
Costco Wholesale Corp. is being sued by the family of Erik Scott, who was shot and killed by three officers outside a Summerlin Costco store near Las Vegas in 2010, said a report in The Las Vegas Sun.
Scott's family had originally filed a federal lawsuit against the wholesale corporation for emotional and punitive damages related to the man's death, in excess of $10,000, said the Sun, but now have returned to state court after dropping the federal lawsuit.
The federal lawsuit to the U.S. District Court was filed in October 2010, said the Sun, against the Metro Police, but was dropped earlier this year. Scott, 38, was shot by officers William Mosher, Joshua Stark, and Thomas Mendiola.
Now the family, including Scott's parents Linda and Bill, and his estate, is going against Costco itself, having filed a lawsuit in Clark County District Court in Nevada on Friday, as well as one of the company's employees who called 911 after Scott was seen carrying a concealed weapon in July 2010.
The employee in question, Shai Lierley, told the police over the telephone and explained the encounter with Scott about having carried the weapon. The lawsuit against Costco and Lierley stated that he had "mischaracterized" Scott, said the Sun, stating that Scott was under the influence of illegal narcotics and that his intentions with the gun were suspicious. From Lierley's conversation with the police, it was alleged that the police believed that the situation with Scott at the store was escalating to levels of a threat, which is why the police had arrived to the scene.
Matthew Callister, the Scott family's attorney, went over transcripts from the inquest and told The Las Vegas Sun that "there are some serious questions that need to be addressed... The police improperly believed by the time they got there, they had a hostage situation."
Callister and Scott's family said that he was not a threat and was merely shopping at Costco the day of his death, but was told by an employee he was not allowed to bring his gun into the warehouse store.
Part of the lawsuit claimed that Costco did not post its no-firearms policy in plain view, or includes it in the member application Scott filled out, said CBS News in Las Vegas.
The lawsuit noted that Lierley's and Costco's actions were the reasons that ""created the situation which resulted in Erik Scott losing his life," noted The Las Vegas Sun.
