Summary: A history of mental illness and a possible work partnership gone wrong may be behind the reason an Alabama man shot and killed two acquaintances.
Two people were shot and killed in Hamilton, Alabama Wednesday afternoon, one outside a law firm and another outside an accounting firm. The victims have been identified as 61-year-old Linda Cole and 67-year-old Donny Miller. Suspected shooter Jimmy Cooper, 57, was injured by law enforcement officials.
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Cooper did not have a criminal background but officials are asking for a mental evaluation to be conducted. He was a business partner with one victim and a client of the other. The motive for the shooting has not been determined although records indicate Cooper and Miller owned an insulation company together. Cooper was ordered to pay $59,000 to the company in a 2010 lawsuit. Miller ended up suing Cooper in 2014 but dropped the lawsuit a year later. Miller was shot at the law firm Scott Hunt and while Cole was shot at Lawler and Cole tax office.
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Cooper was seen fleeing the scene where law enforcement and a private citizen exchanged in gunfire until they were able to be arrested and taken into custody. He was shot in the leg and grazed on the arm during the gunfire. He will be treated at UAB hospital until being transferred to the jail.
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A family member of Cooper’s had signed an order last July for him to be committed to a mental facility. The sheriff’s county transported him to a facility for mental evaluation but was released at some point afterwards. Assuming he is found mentally competent, he will face two capital murder charges and the death penalty. He used a handgun to shoot both victims.
Source: http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2016/02/marion_county_courhouse_school.html
Photo: wbrc.com