HAMILTON, Ala. – A gunman fatally shot two people, one a former business partner, at a law firm and a nearby accountant’s office in western Alabama on Wednesday morning, authorities said.
The suspect, 57-year-old Jimmy Cooper, was shot in the arm and leg before being taken into custody, Marion County District Attorney Jack Bostick said at a news conference.
Cooper faces two capital murder charges in the deaths of Donny Miller, 67, and Linda Cole, 61. Miller was Cooper’s former business partner and Cooper was a client of Cole’s, Bostick said.
Court records show Cooper had owned an insulation company and was ordered to pay more than $59,000 in a 2010 lawsuit. A lawsuit Miller filed in 2014, said that he, Cooper and Cooper’s daughter had been partners in a foam insulation business. Miller had the lawsuit dismissed in June.
Police haven’t released a motive in the shootings in Hamilton, a city of roughly 6,800 about 90 miles northwest of Birmingham. The district attorney says he plans to pursue the death penalty.