Feb. 11--A retired cosmetologist originally from Illinois, Patricia Cook spent much of her time caring for her home and husband and imagining Sunday School crafts for children.
"She was an outgoing person, very friendly, active with the church," her husband Gary Cook, of Culpeper, said Friday night. "She called herself a crafty person because she was constantly using various items for her crafts that others would throw away. She tried to be active in church and was basically a homemaker."
In a shocking turn-of-events that has rocked this small-town to its core, Patricia Cook was shot dead in a reported altercation with a Culpeper Police officer Thursday morning on North East Street.
She was 54.
Questions surrounding what happened remain more plentiful than answers.
The latest information from the Virginia State Police, the agency leading the investigation, is that the policeman, a five-year veteran, responded to a parking lot of Epiphany Catholic School at about 10 a.m. for a report of a suspicious person. When the officer got there, he encountered Cook sitting in her Jeep Wrangler.
The two had a conversation, according to police, and while the officer attempted to retrieve Cook's ID, she suddenly closed her car window, trapping the officer's arm. Police say she then started driving away dragging the officer alongside her.
According to eyewitness Kris Buchele and police, the policeman repeatedly commanded Cook to stop, but she refused and was shot. Buchele described the initial shot as "point blank" and said the officer then fired at least five more shots as Cook pulled out of the parking lot and onto North East Street. The Jeep headed south, past the intersection with East Spencer Street, before crashing into a telephone pole.
Cook was pronounced dead at the scene.
She was an active member of Culpeper United Methodist Church on the other side of town, but why was Cook sitting in the parking lot of the Catholic school?
That question has left many flabbergasted, including her husband of eight years.
"I honestly have no idea," said Gary Cook. "I am at a loss."
While some in the community have expressed rage and hostility at the police, Cook, a disabled Vietnam veteran, said he is not angry.
"I am frustrated," he said. "I wish I had more answers. This is something you read about, something that happens to that other guy -- this doesn't happen to me. Well, it did happen to me."
He first met his future wife in Illinois back in 1970 after serving overseas in the war. At the time, she was married and later Gary got married. The two reconnected years later, and settled in Culpeper since Gary commutes to the D.C. metro area every day.
"I last saw her Thursday morning prior to me going to work," he said. "I get up at 3, and leave by 4:30. She had mentioned while she was laying there in bed she was going to do some shopping, pick up some cat treats -- that was it."
Gary Cook said his wife was not on any medication -- "the strongest thing she ever took was aspirin" -- and had never had a prior run-in with police.
"It doesn't sound like her actions at all," he said. "We have never had a confrontation with police, she has never spoken with animosity about the police, the police were never at our doorstep."
Mr. Cook again expressed frustration about the unknown circumstances surrounding his wife's death, articulating something like empathy for the person in uniform who pulled the trigger multiple times.
"I am not feeling anger at the police," he reiterated, adding, "I try to put myself in the officer's position. I know the man has got to be living on pins and needles."
Likewise, the Rev. Randy Orndorff, pastor at Culpeper United Methodist, where Mrs. Cook had attended for about seven years, encouraged a coming-together in a time like this.
"We are just such a tight-knit community and it's a sad thing for us. My hope is that we don't end up being divided. When bad situations happen people respond in two ways: one is we shut down and close off and grow bitter or we take a bad situation and ask God to make some good out of it," he said, recognizing the range of emotions out there.
Patricia Clark was an active assistant in the children's ministry at CUMC and also helped out in the kitchen preparing food for Wednesday night dinners as well as in the office, the pastor said.
"Wherever we needed her, she was there," Orndorff said, describing his parishioner as compassionate, kind and giving. "Pat brought a lot of energy when she worked with our children and she got a lot of energy in return."
The pastor said Mrs. Cook had some ups and downs in life and there were seasons when they didn't see much of her. But when she was present, she was present. Crafts were her passion, Orndorff added.
"That's really what she did -- she loved doing crafts with the children more than anything else," he said.
The pastor said his and the church's role at this point is helping Mr. Cook through his time of grief.
"He, like a lot of folks, doesn't have an awful lot of answers. There's still some shock and confusion over it because it just hit us out of nowhere. I can speak personally when things hit you out of nowhere -- it's hard to process it," said Orndorff, who lost his 17-year-old daughter, Kelsey, in a tragic car accident nearly four years ago.
"There's no easy answer for it."
Going forward, the church will work with its children and congregation and the community in an effort to guide the process to a positive end, he said.
"We have police officers who are members of our church and so I am very mindful of all that is intertwined and we're just praying for everybody involved including the officer and his family," Orndorff said.
From a religious perspective, how does he explain how something like this could happen?
"That is the age old question," Orndorff said. "Why would a good God allow suffering to happen?
"My view is we live in a free world -- accidents are going to happen sometimes. We all have choices to make. What I know is there is a lot of things we don't control in life, and you're either going to use your energy negatively or positively to reach out and help others. You hope in the end for everybody some good can come out of a tragic situation."
God is present through all of it, the pastor added.
"We know Pat was a faithful Christian. Her Bible was lying open by her chair at her house and I know that she loved the Lord and loved kids."
Patricia A. Cook will be laid to rest Sunday, Feb. 19 in a service at CUMC on Oaklawn Drive. Clore-English is handling the funeral arrangements.
Culpeper Police Capt. Ricky Pinksaw, asked by the Star-Exponent if there was anything the CPD wanted the community to know in the wake of Thursday's shooting, said, "The department is committed to providing the highest quality service to the citizens of our community, and we ask the public to be patient while the Virginia State Police continues to conduct a thorough and professional investigation."
This is the first incident of a fatal police shooting in the history of the Culpeper Police Department.
Copyright 2012 - Culpeper Star-Exponent, Va.
