Crownpoint man gets 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to shooting 2 after argument

A Crownpoint man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and using and carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence after an argument in 2022 escalated into the shooting of two people.

Derrick Cook, 28, a member of the Navajo Nation, entered his guilty plea on April 11 in relation to an incident that took place on Aug. 27, 2022, in Crownpoint, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.

Court documents show that Cook got into an argument with a man and his girlfriend outside a convenience store in Crownpoint on that date, firing several shots at the building from the back of a car after an employee told him to leave. When the man who had been involved in the altercation with Cook at the store and another man confronted Cook at his home that evening, the documents states Cook shot both of them.

The first man was struck in the left side of his chest or abdomen, resulting in a collapsed lung. The second man was shot in the right elbow and suffered a radial fracture, according to the news release.

Cook will face three years of supervised release when he is released from prison.

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