LAW ENFORCEMENT:

Erik Scott family drops Costco from federal lawsuit

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Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

Metro crime scene investigators, officers and detectives mill about the entrance of the Costco store in Summerlin after the shooting July 10, 2010.

Mon, Jan 10, 2011 (9:32 p.m.)

The family of Erik Scott, who was shot and killed by Metro Police outside a Summerlin Costco store in July, has dropped the business from its federal lawsuit, family attorney Ross Goodman said Monday night.

Goodman said he believes the federal case against Metro Police and Clark County is stronger than the case against Costco. But Goodman said Costco and the Scott family could still meet in court.

“The Scott family has preserved the right to hold Costco accountable in state court within the two-year statute of limitations,” he said.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Nevada on Oct. 28, originally named as defendants the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Sheriff Doug Gillespie, officers William Mosher, Joshua Stark and Thomas Mendiola, as well as Costco Wholesale Corp. and Costco security officer Shai Lierly. The lawsuit will move forward against Metro officials and the police department.

The three officers shot and killed Scott on July 10 outside Costco after authorities say he pointed a gun at an officer. A Clark County coroner’s inquest jury ruled in September after six days of testimony that the three officers were justified in the shooting.

The suit alleges there have been "numerous prior incidents in which Metro officers engaged in unreasonable seizures and the use of excessive, including lethal, force," and claims Gillespie has acted with "deliberate indifference" in failing to adequately train, supervise and discipline officers concerning unreasonable seizures and the use of excessive force.

Metro's policy is not to comment on litigation.

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