Key Takeaways
- A man shot back at his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, Larico Cooper, after Cooper entered her home without permission during a shooting incident.
- Cooper faces several charges, including attempted murder and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, making his actions illegal.
- The incident highlights the dangers of stalking, as Cooper had allegedly been stalking the homeowner for two weeks before the shooting.
- The homeowner’s boyfriend returned fire after being ambushed, protecting himself from an imminent threat.
- Cooper was hospitalized, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty; no charges have been filed against the boyfriend.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
MEMPHIS, TN — A man who had just gotten home with his girlfriend early Wednesday walked into gunfire inside her Soulsville house and shot back, striking her ex-boyfriend several times, according to a court affidavit.
The ex-boyfriend, Larico Cooper, is now charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder, employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, especially aggravated burglary, and convicted felon in possession of a handgun, as reported by WMC. That last charge is the one I want to focus on. If it holds, Cooper was already barred by law from having the gun he brought to that house.
The shooting happened just after 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 14 on Englewood Street near East Trigg Avenue. Officers found Cooper lying in the driveway with a gunshot wound to his leg and a handgun holster on his waistband, the affidavit states. Police recovered a black “handgun with a red optic” from under a parked car in the driveway and followed a blood trail from the driveway, around the house, and into the rear bedroom.
The homeowner told police she had been out with her boyfriend and that she went to the restroom when they got home. When she came out, she could not find him, but she saw Cooper lying in the driveway. She told officers Cooper did not have permission to be in her home and that he had been stalking her for the past two weeks.
Two weeks of stalking ended with the man inside her house at 3:30 in the morning. That is the pattern every woman in that situation fears, and it is why the man standing next to her had to be ready for it.
Her boyfriend told police he walked through the kitchen toward the bedroom. Gunfire opened up on him. He returned fire. He told officers he was not sure who was shooting at him. Cooper was struck several times. The boyfriend then drove himself to the hospital for treatment.
He did not know who was shooting at him, and he did not need to. A man taking rounds in a dark house at 3:30 a.m. is facing an imminent threat of death whether he can put a name to it or not. What matters is that he had a gun within reach and got it into the fight before the ambush finished him.
More from USA Carry:
Cooper is charged as a convicted felon in possession of a handgun. Federal and Tennessee law already prohibited him from having one. That prohibition did not keep a handgun out of his holster, and it did not keep him out of a home he had no permission to enter. The only thing that stopped him was a man inside that home who had a gun of his own.
Cooper was taken to the hospital. The charges against him are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless convicted. The affidavit describes the boyfriend as one of the two people injured in the shooting, and no charges against him have been reported. Prosecutors make the final call.
