On the evening of October 23, 2015, Andrew Brice Cole, a 34-year-old White / Caucasian male from Peoria, Arizona, was shot and killed during a domestic dispute at a residence on the southwest side of Tucson. The altercation occurred at a home in the 7400 block of West Bopp Road, in a semi-rural area west of the Tucson Mountains near Ryan Field. According to summaries of the case, the confrontation began as an argument between Andrew and his brother inside the home and escalated into a violent
encounter that ended with a single handgun being fired and Andrew suffering a fatal gunshot wound.
Deputies from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched after a 911 call reported the shooting at around 7:20 p.m. When they arrived at the residence, they found Andrew gravely wounded from the gunshot. Deputies attempted life-saving measures at the scene, but despite those efforts he was pronounced dead at the house. The incident was treated immediately as a homicide, and the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Unit responded to take over the investigation, interviewing witnesses and securing the residence and surrounding property as a crime scene.
Information released by local media and later compiled in online case summaries identifies the primary suspect as Andrew’s brother, 32-year-old Richard Scott Coleman. He was at the residence when deputies arrived and, according to reports, told investigators he had fired the handgun during the argument that preceded the shooting. After being questioned by detectives, Richard was arrested at the scene. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced that he was being charged with second-degree murder in connection with Andrew’s death, and the case has since been listed as “solved” in public homicide databases, reflecting that an arrest was made and a suspect formally charged.
Online memorials and victim registries dedicated to those lost to gun violence record Andrew’s killing as a firearm homicide in Tucson on October 23, 2015, and note that he left behind loved ones who remember him as a proud and loving father. These tributes, along with the investigative accounts and arrest reports, portray a case in which a family dispute between brothers at a private home abruptly turned deadly, drawing in law enforcement and ultimately resulting in the brother’s arrest on a homicide charge while friends and relatives were left to mourn Andrew’s loss.
