A coroner’s jury ruled Wednesday that a Lake Zurich area man fatally shot his live-in girlfriend before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide that ended a 15-hour standoff with police last month.
Lake County Coroner Barbara Richardson said Robert Cooke Jr., 56, fatally shot Carol Johnson, 53, before killing himself.
The inquest also confirmed the pair were under the influence of drugs at the time of the Sept. 16 standoff in unincorporated Lake Zurich. According to the coroner’s office, Cooke tested positive for cocaine and methamphetamines, while Johnson had traces of cocaine, methamphetamines and cannabis in her bloodstream.
The standoff began when agents with the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group confronted Cooke on the evening of Sept. 15.
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Cooke and Johnson holed up inside the home at 25226 Ellrie Ter., declaring they were armed and would not come out. The standoff ended the next morning when police threw a canister of pepper spray into the home and subsequently heard two gunshots.
Police said Cooke was running a full-service drug operation from his home, growing marijuana and packaging the product for sale.