Costco Comments on Shooting Death

September 29, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Legal on September 30, 2010 Costco (NASDAQ: COST) has released a statement regarding the July shooting death by police of Erik Scott, an employee at its Summerlin, Nev., warehouse.

On Tuesday, a jury ruled the police action justified after an inquest into the incident. On July 10, police came to the warehouse in response to a 911 call after Scott tried to enter the workplace with a firearm.

Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco had refrained from public comment while the investigation was pending.

"We are making this statement now because the official inquest has concluded, and because we have been advised that friends and family of Mr. Scott plan to protest in Summerlin this week, demanding that Costco terminate the employment of one or more of our employees who played a role in the events on that date," the Costco statement read. "Such actions can only be intended to inflame public sentiment in connection with planned litigation, and have no reasonable relationship to the cause of Mr. Scott's untimely death. We intend to vigorously resist any use of our private property by anyone for this purpose, and will apply to the court for relief if any such threatened trespass is attempted."