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Police pushing forward on Osawatomie murder probe
Months after shooting, officers still working to find who pulled trigger
By Dustin Kass, dustinKass@miconews.com
The front door has been replaced, and new occupants have moved in. A pair of chairs sit on the concrete porch, and several children’s toys dot the front lawn.
The home at 816 Chestnut Ave. looks different than it did on the morning of April 8, when it was the site of the murder of Billy Gene Cooper of Osawatomie.
While many things have changed in the more than four months since the shooting, one fact remains the same: Osawatomie police are still actively working to track down the assailant or assailants behind the crime, said Bob Butters, assistant police chief.
“The investigation is very active,” Butters said.
Cooper was shot and killed at about 10:20 p.m. April 8 at the house he rented at 816 Chestnut Ave., Butters previously said. Butters also previously said nine shots were fired at Cooper, several piercing the front door, apparently as he answered his door. Police arrived at the home just minutes after neighbors reported hearing a rapid burst of gunfire echoing through the neighborhood, but Cooper was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police arrested a Louisburg man May 1 and charged him with first-degree murder in the shooting. However, Miami County Attorney David Miller dismissed the charge May 29, in part because of a “recanting witness or witnesses,” according to a Miami County Attorney’s Office press release issued at the time.
The Osawatomie Police Department is still devoting resources to the case, though Butters declined to comment on the status of the investigation other than noting it was “definitely still ongoing.”
Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to contact their local law enforcement agency or the Miami County Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline at (913) 294-8477.
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The home at 816 Chestnut Ave. looks different than it did on the morning of April 8, when it was the site of the murder of Billy Gene Cooper of Osawatomie.
While many things have changed in the more than four months since the shooting, one fact remains the same: Osawatomie police are still actively working to track down the assailant or assailants behind the crime, said Bob Butters, assistant police chief.
“The investigation is very active,” Butters said.
Cooper was shot and killed at about 10:20 p.m. April 8 at the house he rented at 816 Chestnut Ave., Butters previously said. Butters also previously said nine shots were fired at Cooper, several piercing the front door, apparently as he answered his door. Police arrived at the home just minutes after neighbors reported hearing a rapid burst of gunfire echoing through the neighborhood, but Cooper was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police arrested a Louisburg man May 1 and charged him with first-degree murder in the shooting. However, Miami County Attorney David Miller dismissed the charge May 29, in part because of a “recanting witness or witnesses,” according to a Miami County Attorney’s Office press release issued at the time.
The Osawatomie Police Department is still devoting resources to the case, though Butters declined to comment on the status of the investigation other than noting it was “definitely still ongoing.”
Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to contact their local law enforcement agency or the Miami County Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline at (913) 294-8477.