Man killed by police was wanted for attempted murder

The 44-year-old man shot and killed by Gunnison Police Department officers on Nov. 11 had an outstanding warrant for his arrest on four felony charges, including attempted murder, assault and false imprisonment in connection with an incident of alleged domestic violence in Gunnison in August.

Gerry Donald Cooper, a resident of Lakewood, was contacted by Gunnison Police in the parking lot of the GardenWalk apartments on North Colorado Street on Nov. 11 after police received a report that a man was sleeping in a parked car. The events that followed, which ended with Cooper being shot and killed by police, are under investigation by the Colorado 7th Judicial District.

According to court records, Cooper was charged on Aug. 23 with an attempt to commit murder in the first degree, assault in the second degree, false imprisonment and menacing, all of which are felonies. He was also charged with obstruction of telephone service, a misdemeanor.

Those charges stem from a report made to Gunnison Police by a Gunnison woman on Aug. 22, the same day that the crimes are alleged to have occurred. In an affidavit for an arrest warrant, Gunnison Police officers stated that the victim was “strangled, hit, appeared visibly scared” and that she was transported to Gunnison Valley Health that day.

The victim told police that Cooper had strangled her for “approximately one minute,” threatened to hit her with objects, punched her, menaced her with switchblade knife, hinted that he might kill her, kept her imprisoned in a room for almost 12 hours and took her phone.

Police later collected evidence that, according to the affidavit, appeared to match the victim’s account.

Following the August report, Gunnison Police Department officers located Cooper’s pickup truck at a motel on East Tomichi Avenue, according to court records, but did not find Cooper there.

Court records do not show that Cooper was arrested on these charges. He was a registered sex offender, according to Gunnison Police. Court documents show that he had a lengthy criminal record in Front Range counties.

Gunnison Police Chief Keith Robinson said officers who responded to GardenWalk on Nov. 11 were aware that the vehicle in which Cooper was found had been reported stolen. But Robinson said he does not know whether the responding officers knew of the alleged domestic violence incident in August.

(Sam Liebl can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or editor@gunnisontimes.com.)