Sarah Cooper, 33, a white woman, was mortally wounded on February 16, 2019, in the small south Alabama town of Samson. Just before noon, police and emergency responders rushed to the 500 block of Pullum Street after a report of a firearm assault. When officers arrived, they found Cooper suffering from what was believed to be a single gunshot wound.
She was taken to Wiregrass Medical Center in nearby Geneva, but she did not survive her injuries.
As word spread through the community, the investigation quickly widened beyond a simple call for help. The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation responded at the request of the Samson Police Chief, treating the scene as a homicide and moving fast to identify who had fled before officers arrived. Investigators named a person of interest within hours: James Chadwick Green, a former Samson police officer. Authorities said Green ran from the scene and warned the public he should be considered armed and dangerous.
The search for Green turned into a manhunt that carried a sense of urgency across county lines. Law enforcement circulated details about a red 2017 Toyota truck and asked anyone who spotted it—or Green himself—to call police rather than approach. Investigators also emphasized that children who had been with Cooper were safe, even as the hunt for the suspect intensified.
The next day, February 17, a tip cracked the case open. A citizen recognized the vehicle associated with Green and alerted the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies located him and a short pursuit began, ending on Interstate 65 near Southern Boulevard in Montgomery County. When the chase stopped, authorities said Green shot himself. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead later that evening.
With Green’s death, the case’s central figure was gone before any arrest could be made or charges could be tested in court. What remained for investigators was the grim task of closing the loop—documenting what happened at the Pullum Street home, preserving the evidence, and reconstructing the final moments of Sarah Cooper’s life—while a town tried to make sense of a killing that ended almost as abruptly as it began.
