Winthrop shooting

Air Force Vet Killed in Winthrop Shooting Rampage Laid to Rest

Ramona Cooper, who was still working with the military before she died, is being remembered as a devoted mother and wife.

NBC Universal, Inc.

Ramona Cooper, a 60-year-old Air Force veteran, was laid to rest Tuesday after she was killed in a violent rampage just over a week ago in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

The community has continued to gather and remember the victims of the shooting, Cooper and David Green, a 58-year-old retired Massachusetts State Police officer, who was laid to rest Friday. Both were shot multiple times. The incident is now being investigated as a hate crime.

Investigators found the 28-year-old gunman had made "some troubling white supremacist rhetoric" that targeted Black and Jewish people before he killed two Black people. The gunman, identified by Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins Sunday as Nathan Allen, was quickly killed by police officers.

Loved ones said their final goodbyes to Cooper Tuesday at the Ruggiero Family Memorial Home in East Boston in private services will held in the afternoon. An American flag was given to her son at a flag-folding ceremony.

"The community and all the support we've had around here has been amazing," said Gary Cooper Sr., her former husband. "People need to come together and stop fighting and hatred. It's all about love, not hate."

Cooper, who was still working with the military before she died, was remembered as a devoted mother and wife. Her love of helping others had also led her to part time work at the veterans' hospital in Jamaica Plain.

David Green and Ramona Cooper were each shot multiple times by the gunman after he crashed a stolen box truck into a residential building.

Shortly after the shooting, Rochelle Cooper, Ramona's daughter-in-law, described what her husband is going through.

"It's bad enough, him losing his mother in that way, so suddenly, but then to find out that it was possibly targeted because of the color of her skin, that made it even worse on him," Cooper said.

Cooper said her family has been touched by the outpouring of support from the community, including many people they don't even know.

"Even though this was a very horrific thing to happen, there's still good people," Cooper said. "That's really what we want people to realize."

Contact Us