Civil rights lawsuit filed in Costco shooting case

Relatives of Erik Scott, a medical device salesman shot dead by Las Vegas police officers outside the Summerlin Costco store in July, have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Metropolitan Police Department, Costco and individual employees of each.

In September, a coroner's jury found that the three officers who shot Scott had acted justifiably.

In the lawsuit, the Scott family alleges officers used excessive force, violating Scott's constitutional rights.

Store security officials had evacuated the store and called police after several store employees reported that Scott was acting odd and had a gun. Scott, a former U.S. Army officer, had a concealed weapon permit and was carrying two handguns.

At the coroner's inquest most witnesses agreed that when approached by the police officers as he was leaving the store Scott pulled one of the pistols, still in its holster, and pointed it in the direction of an officer. A medical examiner also testified that Scott had a near-fatal level of prescription painkiller in his system at the time of his death.