A Culpeper police officer indicted in the shooting death of a woman while he was on duty has been fired, police said Thursday.
In May, Officer Daniel Harmon-Wright was charged with murder, malicious shooting and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. In February, police say, Harmon-Wright approached Patricia A. Cook, 54, in a church parking lot and fatally shot her, police said.
Harmon-Wright’s attorney argued that the officer fired at Cook because she was dragging him with her as she drove away, media outlets have reported. But Cook’s husband insists that’s not what happened and filed a multimillion dollar wrongful-death lawsuit against Harmon-Wright.
Harmon-Wright was fired by the Culpeper police department after an investigation by the Virginia State Police, special prosecutor Jim Fisher and a grand jury that led to his indictment.
“We share in the community’s outrage and concern regarding the alleged action of this one officer,” Culpeper Mayor Chip Coleman said in a statement.
Wright had been with the department since 2006. He had been suspended without pay after his indictment, Coleman said.
