Deputy stalwart, cheerful, pals say
Governor among 2,500 at services
FORT SMITH — As Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck eulogized slain Deputy Bill Cooper on Tuesday, he wondered how to end the violence that he said is ripping apart the country.
“Do what Bill Cooper did,” Hollenbeck suggested. “Be the kind of deputy he was.”
About 2,500 people attended Cooper’s funeral at the Fort Smith Convention Center, with about half of them members of the law enforcement community from Arkansas, neighboring states and across the country.
Edwards Funeral Home general manager Jim Edwards said he believed it was the largest funeral he’s been involved with in Fort Smith in his 40 years in the business.
“It was a great honor and tribute to Deputy Cooper and law enforcement in general,” Edwards said.
It took an hour for the procession of law enforce-
ment, fire and emergency vehicles following the hearse that carried Cooper’s flag-draped coffin to Oak Cemetery to pass under an arch on Garrison Avenue created by two ladder trucks with a large American flag hanging between them.
Cooper, 66, was fatally shot on the morning of Aug. 10 as he and other deputies and officers responded to a disturbance call at a rural Sebastian County home. They were ambushed by a gunman wearing body armor and firing a semi-automatic rifle from inside his home, according to police.
Rescued by other officers and deputies while under fire, Cooper died later that day in a Fort Smith hospital from a bullet wound to the neck.
Hollenbeck challenged officers at the funeral to emulate Cooper, who spent 15 years in the sheriff’s office, six years with the Fort Smith Police Department and was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
“Do what is right,” he said. “Do not compromise the badge. Treat all citizens with respect and dignity. Defend yourself and your partner, but avoid violence when you can.”
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson attended Tuesday’s funeral, along with Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas.
Hutchinson said he knew Cooper but got to know him better by talking to others who knew the deputy. He recalled remarks about Cooper’s contagious smile that made others around him smile, and how he loved people and fishing. He shared stories about how Cooper always responded to a call for backup, was a good Marine and loved children.
Hollenbeck said that as a school resource officer for 10 years, Cooper gave tours at the sheriff’s office to 15,000 fourth-graders, talking to them about making smart choices, doing the right thing and being good citizens.
“Cpl. Bill Cooper set an example for us all,” Hutchinson said. “An example as a father, husband, community leader and protector.”
Hollenbeck recounted several displays of courage the day Cooper died.
He said the gunman had retreated into his home where he broke out windows, made gun ports 6 inches wide and stood back far enough into the room so officers and deputies could not see where the fire was coming from.
“A cowardly act,” Hollenbeck said.
When sheriff’s Capt. John Miller of the office’s SWAT team first heard that Cooper had been shot, Hollenbeck said, Miller put on his kit and organized a rescue mission for Cooper with assistance from Deputies Matt Walter and Mike Barber and Greenwood police officer Joey Deer.
Driving into the line of fire to get Cooper, they also pulled to safety Deputy Zach Krieger, who was trying to apply first aid to Cooper and provide cover against the gunfire.
Hollenbeck also talked about Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells, who left his city to respond to the call to assist other officers and sustained a grazing wound to the temple from the gunfire directed at him as he pulled up to the scene.
Sheriff’s Criminal Investigation Division Supervisor Allan Marx and Barling police officer Keith Lindley drove into the line of fire to rescue Spells and take him to an ambulance, Hollenbeck said.
Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Cox also came under fire from the shooter that disabled his unit. But Hollenbeck said rather than retreating, Cox crawled to Spells, assessed his wound and assured Spells that he was going to be all right.
“How heroic,” Hollenbeck said. “I am so amazed at our law enforcement within Sebastian County, Crawford County, the Arkansas State Police and, of course, our own deputies and dispatchers who heroically stood their ground.”