Police: 2 injured in shooting, two men arrested

FLORENCE - Two people were injured and two others arrested after a weekend shooting, police said.

The names of the victims have not been released, since the case remains under investigation, police investigator Jerry Pearson said.

Jonathan Nipper, 27, of Florence, and 32-year-old Leonard Koger, who lives in Lauderdale County, have been charged in the shooting, Pearson said.

The shooting happened at 2200 Cole St., in east Florence, the investigator said.

He said the victims are a 28-year-old woman and 27-year-old man.

The woman was released that day from a local hospital, but the man remains hospitalized in stable condition, Pearson said.

The investigator said the two suspects are accused of entering the house during a gathering early Saturday morning and accused a man and woman of taking a cell phone, cigarettes and money from someone else.

"They pulled out a gun and Mr. Koger fired a round into the floor of the house, at which time he told them to undress," Pearson said.

The woman left the house and asked her sister to give her and the man a ride, Pearson said.

"They went back in the house and got the male victim," he said. "When the three of them got in the car, Mr. Koger fired about 20 rounds at them, striking the man and one woman in the car."

The woman who was struck was the one who had been called to the house by her sister, Pearson said. Both victims were struck in the back, he said.

The shooting was reported at 4:20 a.m., the investigator said. The weapon was a handgun.

Police have impounded the bullet-riddled vehicle as evidence.

Koger was charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count each of first-degree robbery and shooting into an occupied dwelling, Pearson said.

Nipper is charged with first-degree robbery and shooting into an occupied dwelling, the investigator said.

Koger has been released on a $210,000 bond, while bail was set at $60,000 for Nipper, who remains in the Lauderdale County Detention Center, a jail spokeswoman said.

Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call police at 760-6561.

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 740-5739 or bernie.delinski@TimesDaily.com.