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.
Harmon-Wright was responding to reports of a suspicious woman in the parking lot, media outlets have reported, and his attorney has argued that the officer fired at Cook because she was dragging him with her as she drove away. But Cook’s husband insists that’s not what happened and filed a multimillion-dollar wrongful-death lawsuit against Harmon-Wright.
Harmon-Wright had been with the department since 2006. He had been suspended without pay after his indictment.
