Quinn Cooper: A Gentle Giant Missed By Many

By Rob Manning (OPB)
Oct. 10, 2015 3:44 p.m.

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Eighteen-year-old Quinn Cooper was a big guy at 6-foot-2-inches, with size 14 shoes. Family friends say he could deadlift 400 pounds.

He loved the music of Louie Armstrong, and was pursuing theater at Umpqua Community College. Cooper had graduated from Roseburg High School in June.

State Police Sgt. Cari Boyd read part of the family's statement at a press conference the day after Cooper died.

"Quinn was funny, sweet, compassionate, and such a wonderful, loving person. He always stood up for people," Boyd said. "Quinn and his brother Cody were inseparable."

Cooper had been in college only four days when he was killed in the Oct. 1 mass shooting at UCC. He was about to take his brown belt test in karate.

Family members say Cooper loved to dance and perform voice acting. Cooper's father, James E. Cooper, described him as a "wonderful son who loved life."

The part of the Cooper family statement that Sgt. Boyd did not read was a plea to separate the tragic shooting from the politics of gun control: "Please don't let this horrible act of insanity become about who should or shouldn't have a gun. Please remember the victims and their families. Please remember Quinn."

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