The Cedar Rapids Police Department has identified the couple that perished in a murder-suicide Friday as Dennis and LuElla Koopman, formerly of rural Newhall.
Witnesses reported hearing 10 or more gunshots between 3 and 4 p.m. Friday in the 6100 block of Dean Road in SW Cedar Rapids, in a parking lot near one of the many apartment complexes there. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
"Based on preliminary information, investigators believe this is a domestic-related situation involving a murder-suicide and that the public is not at risk,” the CRPD said in a news release on Friday.
The CRPD released the following summary late Monday morning:
The victim of the shooting has been identified as LuElla Koopman, age 52, of 6124 Dean Road SW, Cedar Rapids.
The suspect has been identified as Dennis Lee Koopman, age 54, of 2884 Highway V18, Elberon, IA.
Investigators believe that the suspect either followed the victim to the residence or was waiting for her arrival. After she parked, the suspect blocked her in with his own vehicle. The suspect got out of his vehicle, yelled something at the victim, and opened fire with a long gun, striking the victim multiple times and killing her.
The suspect was armed with both a long gun and a handgun. The suspect used the long gun to kill himself.
It is believed that the couple was in the process of a divorce.
The Koopmans were married in September of 1981, and had been active in a variety of community organizations in the Newhall area. The couple had five children. Dennis had been a lifelong farmer and owner of a hay and forage service. Luella had worked as an Administrative Assistant for the Department of Agricultural Sciences at Kirkwood Community College. She loved gardening and working with horses.
See their obituaries below:
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