Joshua Cole Cooper

In February 2021, Joshua Cole Cooper, a 19 year old Black man, was shot and killed while sitting inside a vehicle at a gas station in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The shooting occurred after an argument, when another man left the scene and later returned armed, opening fire on multiple people at the location. Cooper was one of two young men killed in the attack, alongside Anderson Retic. The violence unfolded in an everyday public space, underscoring how routine environments can become sites of sudden and irreversible loss for Black youth. In 2023, the shooter was convicted on multiple counts, including murder, and sentenced to an effective 190 years in prison. Joshua Cole Cooper’s death became part of local remembrance and broader conversations about gun violence, accountability, and the disproportionate impact of such violence on Black communities.