ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 4, 1996 TAG: 9609040087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Police filed capital murder charges Tuesday against a woman accused of gunning down her ex-husband and his wife after the couple had rushed three friends whom the woman had allegedly shot to a hospital.
Dawn Patricia Cooper walked into the emergency room waiting area and killed Madeline N. Cooper, 43, and wounded Harold Cooper, 55, police spokesman Mark Meagher said.
A 51-year-old woman who was among the three shooting victims Harold and Madeline Cooper brought to the hospital died of her wounds there, Chippenham Medical Center spokesman John Mitchell said. The woman's name was withheld until relatives were notified.
An off-duty police officer working as a hospital security guard shot Dawn Cooper, 42.
None of the three who had been shot during a quarrel outside Dawn Cooper's house was hit by gunfire at the hospital. Robin Hunter, 26, was shot in the abdomen and her 2-year-old son, Kevin Hunter, was hit in both legs and his left shoulder. Investigators would not disclose their relationship to the couple or Dawn Cooper.
All of the wounded, including Dawn Cooper, were in stable condition Tuesday.
Police charged Dawn Cooper with two counts of capital murder, three counts of aggravated assault and five counts of using a firearm in a felony, Meagher said. She could receive the death penalty if convicted of the murder charges.
Neighbors said Harold and Madeline Cooper, Hunter and her son and the 51-year-old woman were in a van outside Dawn Cooper's small brick home when the shooting began about 7 p.m. Monday.
Bob Gill said Dawn Cooper began firing into the van. ``From what I gathered, she pointed that thing point-blank and emptied it into the vehicle,'' Gill said. ``They put it [the van] in gear and drove off.''
A woman who identified herself only as Dawn Cooper's former sister-in-law said Cooper had been distraught, but would not elaborate. ``Whatever it was, it pushed her to the edge,'' she said.
Madeline and Harold Cooper were talking to an emergency room admissions clerk about the gunshot victims they had just brought in when Dawn Cooper arrived and opened fire, Meagher said.
The security officer, bystanders and other patients escaped injury.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB