Nicola Cotton Was a Devoted and Beloved Police Officer
N.O. cop killed with own gun
by The Times-Picayune
Monday January 28, 2008, 9:57 PM
By Brendan McCarthy, Laura Maggi and Mary Sparacello
Staff writers
A New Orleans police officer was fatally shot Monday morning in Central City by a man who police initially called a possible rape suspect, but who relatives said is a paranoid schizophrenic transient with no history of sexual assault.
On Monday morning, officer Nicola Cotton, 24, approached a middle-aged man sitting in the parking lot a Central City strip of stores, Police Department spokesman Sgt. Joe Narcisse said. Police Superintendent Warren Riley said the man appeared homeless.
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Young officer devoted to work
by The Times-Picayune
Monday January 28, 2008, 8:43 PM
By Laura Maggi
Staff writer
Nicola Cotton was the kind of person who always had time for a friendly chat, even if she was hurrying off, friends and neighbors said Monday night at a vigil held in honor of the slain New Orleans police officer outside the apartment building where she lived.
Cotton, 24, was a devoted police officer, known around the Pontchartrain Oaks apartments in eastern New Orleans as somebody who had time for her neighbors, said Wanda Santa Marina, another resident.
“She was just a beautiful person,” Santa Marina said after lighting a candle in front of Cotton’s door. The doorway was crowded with teddy bears, candles, flowers and cards. The door bore a handwritten sign that read, “We love you Nicole.”
Many residents recalled that Cotton could often be seen walking her dog, a black Labrador retriever named London, around the complex and spoke with pride about her chosen profession. Her mother had recently come from Memphis for a visit, said Hope Brown, the apartment’s resident manager.
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