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Gavin MacFarlane, the Scottsdale man who shot and killed two people at a strip club in December of 2010, won’t get the death penalty after being found mentally incompetent.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens raised MacFarlane’s bond from $2 million to a cash bond of $5 million following emotional pleas by family members of one of the victims, Adam Cooley.
MacFarlane planned the shooting rampage, police learned during the investigation. After sitting in the club for a while, MacFarlane walked out to his car and retrieved a handgun, intending to shoot the first people he saw, for reasons only he knew.
See also: Strip Club Shooter Hit With Seven Felonies. Could Face Death Penalty
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Adam Cooley, 34, the Phoenix club’s bouncer, was the first one shot. MacFarlane also shot 20-year-old Antonio Garcia, who was standing near the door. Both died. MacFarlane kept shooting, hitting three other people. One surviving victim was rendered a paraplegic, the courtroom learned today.
Cooley’s brother, Terry, told Judge Stephens that MacFarlane’s history is that he doesn’t take his psychiatric medicine.
“Based on the history and facts, we feel he would be a danger if he was released to society,” Terry Cooley said.
MacFarlane is charged with seven felonies, including first-degree murder.
