A Greenwood police officer walks out of the victim’s apartment unit Thursday at The Courts of Valle Vista.
Daily Journal File Photos
Police have released the name of the man suspected in the shooting death of a Greenwood woman last week.
Greenwood police responded to a report of shots fired in the 600 block of Nicklaus Drive in the Courts of Valle Vista apartment complex around 5:02 p.m. Thursday. When police arrived, they found one person, later identified as Rachel Elizabeth Cooke, 35 of Greenwood, deceased inside the apartment. She appeared to have been shot multiple times, according to a Greenwood Police Department news release.
Cooke resided at the address, and police were investigating the death as a homicide, police said.
Early on in the investigation, several witnesses gave a detailed description of a man who was observed leaving the victim’s apartment shortly after gunshots were heard. The man was seen walking to his vehicle parked in front of the apartment and driving away, police said.
Later, detectives were able to quickly determine his identity by interviewing friends of the victim, and he was identified as Justin Qualls, 35, of Greenwood. They also learned he had a romantic relationship with the victim, and that they both worked at the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Facility, police said.
Qualls had met the victim at the apartment around 4:30 p.m. Thursday after she had returned home from work. Multiple gunshots were heard a short time later and Qualls was seen leaving the apartment, officials said.
Qualls was then tracked to Kentucky with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, where the task force had located him travelling on southbound Interstate 65. Kentucky State Police were then notified and their assistance was requested by law enforcement, police said.
Kentucky State Police located Qualls’ vehicle traveling on southbound I-65 near Bowling Green, Kentucky, and conducted a traffic stop on the suspect sometime after 9 p.m. He initially complied and pulled his car over at Exit 30, which is about 208 miles from Greenwood, police said.
After pulling over, police say he shot himself and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police did not initially release Qualls’ identity on Friday, saying his identity would be withheld pending notification of his next of kin. Officials released his name on Monday morning.
The Johnson County Coroner’s Office identified Cooke as the victim of the shooting Friday morning, after conducting an autopsy on Friday. It was determined that Cooke died after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds that resulted in her death, Coroner Mike Pruitt said in a media release.
The case remains under investigation, and Matt Fillenwarth, Greenwood assistant chief of police, said Monday no new information was available.
This is the first homicide of the year for Greenwood and no others have been reported in Johnson County.
County officials are taking measures to provide support for employees in wake of the shooting, Brandi Kirkdendall, county court administrator, said Friday afternoon.
“We are aware of the tragic incident last evening involving two employees of the Dickinson Juvenile Justice Center,” Kirkendall said. “We express our heartfelt condolences to the families during this difficult time. The county has taken measures to provide additional support for colleagues who may be feeling overwhelmed.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Greenwood Police at 317-882-9191 or submit a tip anonymously online at greenwood.in.gov/police.
