Gillespie urges patience while police shootings are under investigation

Sheriff Doug Gillespie asked Friday for the public's patience while his agency fully investigates a recent rash of police shootings.

"I know you want answers and you want them now. I ask for your patience and trust as we investigate and let the process take its course," Gillespie said from his office.

The news conference came six days after a high-profile police shooting outside the Costco store in Summerlin left 38-year-old medical devices salesman Erik Scott dead.

A police shooting Thursday night pushed the Metropolitan Police Department's yearly total to 17, four of which were fatal. Last year the agency had 15 officer-involved shootings, though the annual tally often hovers at 20.

Gillespie said every shooting -- fatal or not -- is investigated and reviewed by his department.

"I have always said that whether we have one or we have 17 ... that we take each one seriously," he said.

Proper investigation, which includes interviewing witnesses and waiting for test results, takes time and cannot be sped up, he said.

"In policing, one thing I've learned over the years is don't rush the processes," he said. "Let the processes work because they are there for a reason."

He acknowledged questions from the public and media about the spate of five officer-involved shootings in the past 34 days, but did not address specifics of any shooting.

"I hear your concern," he said. "Clearly everyone wants answers in these cases, including me. What I ask for is patience and trust."

Attention to recent police shootings intensified following Scott's July 10 death. Three Las Vegas police officers shot him after he pulled a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at one of them, authorities said. Costco employees had called police, saying that Scott was acting erratically and carrying a handgun, police said.

Scott had a concealed carry permit for two guns he carried.

Investigators have interviewed more than 40 witnesses, including more than a dozen who said they saw a gun in Scott's hand when the officers fired, police said.

In an attempt to retrieve video of the incident, Las Vegas police sent the hard drive from the store's surveillance system to a police agency in Southern California for forensic review, department spokeswoman Carla Alston said without elaboration.

In the most recent incident, Las Vegas police on Thursday night shot and wounded a domestic violence suspect after he opened fire on them, police said.

A woman called 911 about 10 p.m. and said her ex-boyfriend was armed with a handgun outside her home at 3908 Applecrest St., near Alexander Road and Rancho Drive, police said.

The suspect, 27-year-old Jason Vanbuskirk, immediately fired at the officers when they arrived, police said. Three officers returned fire and hit Vanbuskirk, who was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition. Police initially reported that he had died but said early Friday that he survived.

Investigators also determined that Vanbuskirk had fired at least twice in the direction of someone riding a moped in the area.

Vanbuskirk was charged with three counts of attempted murder on a police officer and one count of attempted murder with a deadly weapon.

The three officers were uninjured, and have been placed on paid administrative leave, as is routine in shootings. Their names typically are released 48 hours after an incident.

The Police Department typically provides few details of officer-involved shootings beyond a news release made a day or two later. Most details, including accounts from eyewitnesses and officers, are revealed during a coroner's inquest, which is held in any fatal police shooting.

Gillespie defended that process.

"I know some lack confidence in the coroner's inquest process, but it is the process that we have," Gillespie said.

Clark County's inquest procedure was reviewed in 2007 by a committee that included representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The County Commission tweaked the process but did not go far enough for critics, who want lawyers for families of the dead to be able to question police officers on the witness stand. Instead, families are allowed to submit written questions to the presiding justice of the peace, who decides whether they are appropriate to pose to officers.

Las Vegas police officer Laurie Bisch, who is running against Gillespie in the November general election, said as sheriff she would push to revamp inquests.

"It's a one-sided show," she said. "The public needs to feel the process is fair and equitable and both sides are being heard. Right now that isn't the case."

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.