In the early morning hours of September 20, 2015, a burst of gunfire shattered the pre-dawn quiet outside the Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, leaving a scene of tragedy that would claim the lives of three men. Among the victims was 39-year-old Lacount Simmons, a resident of the housing complex known to some by the nickname 'Kojack.' The violent encounter also resulted in the deaths of 43-year-old Calvin Lamont Clinkscales and 76-year-old Herbert Brown, an innocent bystander who was
tragically caught in the crossfire. Simmons was shot multiple times in the head, back, and torso, and was pronounced dead at the scene, along with Clinkscales. Brown, who was struck in the abdomen, was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the triple homicide quickly pointed to a single gunman. Surveillance footage captured a man fleeing the scene shortly after the shooting. An anonymous tip eventually led law enforcement to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where the suspect, Allen Cooper, was apprehended on April 22, 2016. The motive for the shooting was described by prosecutors as a dispute over drug territory, with Simmons and Clinkscales being the intended targets. Upon his extradition back to Brooklyn, Cooper displayed a shocking lack of remorse, telling reporters he didn't care about the people he had killed.
In October 2017, a jury found Allen Cooper guilty of three counts of second-degree murder and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. The following month, he was sentenced to 90 years to life in prison, ensuring he would spend the rest of his life behind bars for the ruthless act of violence that took the lives of three men. While prosecutors detailed a narrative of a drug-related execution, family and friends of Lacount Simmons remembered him as a kind and sweet person, a great role model who was a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His family, unprepared for the sudden and violent loss, had to raise funds for his burial.
