After they arrived, Cooley said, they went to the kitchen.
“As Cooley was opening the refrigerator, Parker was walking into the kitchen behind him. Cooley noticed Cook raise a gun. Cooley heard a shot and Parker fell to the ground. Cooley then looked at Cook. Cook told Cooley to go ahead and get his steak out of the microwave,” the probable cause statement says.
“Cooley first thought the event was a joke and that Parker was faking an injury. According to Cooley, Cook rolled Parker over, and Cooley could tell that Parker was not faking it. Cooley then grabbed the gun and went outside with it. According to Cooley, Cook followed him outside demanding that Cooley give the gun back. According to Cooley’s testimony, Cook left Parker inside the house fighting for his life. Cooley had to verbally convince Cook to call for medical attention.”
Cooley told the sheriff that he feared for his own safety and refused to give the gun back to Cook.
“Cooley said that he did not know how to unload the gun, so he shot the remaining rounds into the ground outside the house, put the empty gun in Cook’s truck and left the scene. Cooley said he wondered if Cook may have intentions to shoot him also, like he did Parker.”
The sheriff interviewed Cook. He says Cook told him about “his long running contentious relationship with Parker. Cook explained to me his relationship with Parker was strained because Parker had done several things that Cook did not approve of, including but not limited to; Parker stealing family heirlooms from Cook (he and his former wife’s wedding bands, grandpa’s pocket watch, and a turquoise bear claw) and Parker doing drugs at Cook’s house regardless of who was around them.”
Cook told the sheriff that the shooting was an accident and “he thought Parker had put blanks in the gun. I inquired about that statement. Cook later told me that Parker had not had access to that gun in over a year and a half. Cook also told me that the last time he used that gun he had an accidental discharge and shot a hole in the ceiling of the kitchen. Those statements established to me that Cook had loaded and unloaded the gun after Parker had an opportunity to put blanks in it.
“Having credible reason to believe that Cook knowingly shot Parker, I asked Cook directly why he wanted to shoot Parker. Cook replied with “mainly ‘aggravationally’ because he is a thief! Just inevitable. You know wake up! You (Parker) did me wrong!” Cook then went back to denying the shooting was on purpose.”
A judge set Cook’s bond at $500,000 when he was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
