As reported by the Las Vegas Sun, the family of a man shot outside of a Costco store has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the store, as one of their employees misinformed the police that the man, seeing carrying a gun in the store, was causing a great disturbance.
E.S., 38, was shot and killed as he exited a Costco in Summerland on July 10, 2010. The Metro police officers that shot E.S., W.M., J.S. and T.M., are not named in the current lawsuit.
The suit was filed in Clark County District Court on June 8, naming Costco Wholesale Corp. and one store employee as defendants. The family is seeking damages over $10,000.
Allegedly, after an employee at the store contacted Metro police to report a disturbance by a customer with a gun, officers arrived at the scene and identified E.S. as he was leaving the store and ordered that he surrender.
Instead, according to police, E.S. raised his gun as if to take aim.
E.S.'s family contends that E.S. was merely shopping in the store when an employee approached him and told him he was not allowed to carry a gun on the premises.
The family further allege that the Costco employee accosting him – about carrying his registered concealed handgun – may have upset E.S.. The family said that E.S. was "not acting erratic, not being aggressive, and in fact did not threaten or endanger anyone that day."
In September of 2010 a Clark County coroner's inquest jury found the three Metro officers justified in their actions. Earlier this year the family dropped a suit they had filed in October of 2010 against the police and Costco.
Matthew Callister is the attorney now representing the family in the new wrongful death lawsuit. Callister said, "There are some serious questions that need to be addressed" after he had looked over transcripts from the inquest.
S.L., the Costco employee that had telephoned the police, is named in the suit due to "grossly and inaccurately" describing his confrontation with E.S. The suit states that S.L. described E.S.'s conduct and intentions over the phone to police. Furthermore, according to the suit, S.L. allegedly told police that E.S. was under the influence of illegal narcotics.
Callister added, "The police improperly believed by the time they got there, they had a hostage situation."
The call to 911, according to Callister, was six to seven minutes long and in that time, S.L. led police to believe that the danger was increasing.
Costco is named for its breach to general duty of care in allowing S.L., and not an employee in management, to contact the police and report the issue. According to the suit, Costco "created the situation which resulted in (E.S.) losing his life."
An award for wrongful death is being sought for the recovery of damages including monetary, emotional, and punitive, as well as attorney fees.
Loosing a loved one unexpectedly, and to the fault of someone else, is grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit. You need to contact a personal injury attorney to file your suit and work to recover your damages.