Cook faces civil suit in Rowland shooting

PALMER - The widow of a slain police officer filed a civil suit in Palmer Superior Court late last month against her husband's alleged killer, asking to be awarded over $12.5 million in punitive damages.

Kim Michael Cook, currently charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of Palmer police officer James Rowland, is now being sued in civil court by Rowland's widow, Hallie Rowland.

The suit, filed May 27, requests a judgment in excess of $12.5 million for Rowland's widow and five-year-old son, James Rowland III, for the "heinous, unlawful, intentional assault and murder by the defendant (Cook) of James Rowland," according to court records. In the suit, Hallie Rowland's attorneys, Ken Goldman and Eric Jensen, allege Cook's actions were not only unlawful, but without justification.

Rowland was performing a routine check around 1 a.m., May 15, when he was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest. He had received a report of a man slumped over the steering wheel of a vehicle in the Carrs parking lot. In the lot, the officer discovered Cook in a blue Dodge truck parked on the off-ramp.

Rowland confronted Cook and Cook got out of the truck, according to a volunteer firefighter riding with the officer. The officer and Cook were talking, standing between the patrol car and the truck, when Cook reportedly became agitated and Rowland reached for his handcuffs, according to charging documents. Cook ran back to the cab of the truck with Rowland in pursuit, then a "popping noise" and two gunshots were heard. Cook was shot twice in the shoulder. Rowland, shot in the upper sternum, was dead.

Cook underwent surgery for his injuries in an Anchorage hospital before being arrested for Rowland's murder and placed in Cook Inlet Pretrial. He is awaiting trial, now scheduled for August 11.