my brother works at that Costco, and the story was quite different than what Erik's family was pushing. I also studied this shooting very thoroughly in my crime class. He was a morphine addict, which was why the military booted him. He wasn't a war hero, never served overseas. He was caught in costco trying to steal beer while under the influence of 4x the normal amount of morphine that would sit any thing on two legs down. The security guard seen the gun in his waistband and moved all the shoppers outside without giving them an explanation so they wouldn't panic. Being curious, the shoppers waited around the main entrance outside until LEO's showed. Scott then came outside and when told to get on the ground, he then reached for his firearm. There was at least 20 people behind the cops and even if Scott fired one round, it couldve hit anyone. They fired several rounds but due to morphine, he remained on his feet. Metro was damned if they did, damned if they dont. If they decided to taser scott, and he managed to squeeze off a round killing an 8 year old, Metro would still be crucified in trying to act accordingly. He also had 3 magazines of .380acp in his pockets, and one in his firearm. I carry 5 in the cylinder and 25 on my belt, but four mags? IMHO i feel this was a suicide-by-cop sorta thing. I just didnt like how they blew him up to be the next Audie Murphy, and he was really nobody. The family agreed to drop the case if all legal fees were dropped also. They knew they had nothing to go on. Know when to quit.
