Jury Returns Verdict in St. Cloud Drive-By Shooting

ST. CLOUD -- A Sartell man has been convicted of a drive-by shooting stemming from a September incident in south St. Cloud.

A Stearns County jury has found 20-year-old Malcolm Cooper guilty on three counts of drive-by shooting, three counts of second degree assault and one count of being a felon in possession of a gun.

The incident happened on the afternoon of September 23rd near the Southside Boys and Girls Club in the 700 block of 13th Street South.

Gunshots sent multiple people running from the area. According to the criminal complaint, a 19-year-old woman was hurt when Cooper fired a gun from a vehicle toward people standing outside a home.

Sartell Police later arrested Cooper along Pinecone Road near 3rd Street South.  Records show Cooper told authorities he was at his mother's home in Sartell and didn't know anything about the shooting.

The jury ruled there are aggravating factors in the case which could bring more prison time. The jury felt the woman who was hurt was especially vulnerable because she was holding a child when the shots rang out.

Cooper faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison on each count of drive-by shooting and five years for being a felon in possession of a gun. A judge will ultimately determine what Cooper's prison time will be when he's sentenced January 29th.