Law firm worker slain; sheriff calls for more mental health funding
In the aftermath of a Wednesday shooting spree that left a Hamilton, Alabama, law firm worker and an accounting firm worker dead “for no reason,” the local sheriff is calling for increased mental health funding.
Jimmy Cooper, 57, who had no criminal background, is now charged with two counts of capital murder in the slayings of Donny Miller, 67, who worked at the Scott Hunt law firm, and Linda Cole, 61, who worked at the accounting firm. Both were fatally shot at their respective offices, according to AL.com and WBRC.
Miller was a former partner of Cooper’s in an insulation business that had not gone well and Cole had done tax work for Cooper more than 15 years ago, her daughter said. Both were highly regarded in the small town community, where everyone knows everyone else, and Sheriff Kevin Williams told AL.com he saw no rational basis for the shootings.
“That’s what’s tragic about it,” he said. “Two lives are lost for no reason.”
Cooper was committed last July for mental health treatment because he was considered a potential danger to himself and others. It isn’t clear what happened after that, but some seven months later Cooper had a gun and, in addition to allegedly killing Cole and Miller, was ready to shoot it out with law officers until he was himself taken down with the help of a local citizen, the sheriff said Thursday.
“As one sheriff in the state of Alabama, mental health has taken a lot of cuts,” Williams said, calling for more money to address such issues. “State funding is way down. What we’re having and what we’re seeing is more and more sheriffs and more and more county jails are housing these individuals. I have five in my jail today. And what I’m trying to say is we have nowhere to put these people.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “2 dead after law office shooting near courthouse; suspect is in custody”
