Man shot on Liberty Drive

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Bloomington police have arrested a homeless man on murder charges after she was allegedly found sleeping in a van near a body.

Scott A. Cooper, a 56-year-old transient, was arrested Tuesday morning by Bloomington Police Department officers after they were called to investigate a shooting death. Cooper has been tentatively charged with murder.

BPD said officers were dispatched to a parking lot in the 2100 block of S. Liberty Drive around 6:20 a.m. to retrieve an unconscious person. The caller said she arrived at work and saw the man lying on the floor, not moving.

When officers arrived, they found a man who was pronounced dead at the scene. BPD said he was shot in the chest.

Investigators began searching the area near where the man’s body was found and soon came across a pickup truck parked nearby that appeared to have a bullet hole in its windshield. They found a man sleeping in another van nearby.

The man, later identified as Cooper, was asked to get out of the van. BPD said after officers spoke briefly with the suspect, he was arrested and taken to headquarters for questioning.

BPD said two vans, the one with the bullet hole and the one in which Cooper was found sleeping, were later towed from the scene after investigators obtained search warrants. Additionally, officers reportedly found a loaded .380-caliber handgun in the 2006 Chrysler Town & Country where Cooper was sleeping.

After being interviewed by BPD detectives, Cooper was taken to the Monroe County Jail and charged with murder.

Authorities said an autopsy was planned for the dead man while officials tried to contact next of kin. No further information was initially provided.