In the wake of shootings that left one police officer dead and two others badly wounded, the mayor of Joplin urged residents Wednesday to pull together, just as they did 11 years ago when a massive tornado devastated the southwestern Missouri city.
The officer who was killed Tuesday was Cpl. Benjamin Cooper, a husband and father of two, Joplin Police Chief Sloan Rowland said at a news conference. He had been with the department since 2003.
