Waterloo Man Who Attempted to Murder Victim Sentenced to Federal Prison

A man who discharged multiple rounds of ammunition in downtown Waterloo during a murder attempt was sentenced on May 12, 2025, to more than thirteen years in federal prison.

Laindrell Myquail Cooper, age 22, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 21, 2024 guilty plea to possession of ammunition by a felon.

Information from sentencing showed that Cooper was a member of a gang in Waterloo.  On the morning of November 18, 2022, an associate of Cooper’s got into an argument with the victim at a barbershop in downtown Waterloo.  Cooper’s associate called someone to bring Cooper downtown.  Cooper was dressed in all black clothing, including a mask.  Cooper was dropped off a few blocks from the barbershop.  After briefly entering and exiting the barbershop, he located the victim across the street.  Cooper walked into the middle of the street, around a city bus, and then fired at least six rounds of ammunition at the victim, pursuing him as he sought shelter in the entryway of a storefront.  Cooper’s actions caused another man to discharge his firearm as three of his family members were in a car in or near the line of fire.  No one was injured.  Two storefronts and two cars were damaged by gunfire.  Additional evidence established that Cooper previously possessed a firearm that ballistics testing showed was discharged in a shots-fired incident that occurred in Waterloo on July 5, 2021.    

Cooper was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  In pronouncing the sentence, Chief Judge Williams stated that Cooper represented “a clear and present danger to the public.”  Cooper was sentenced to 160 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Cooper is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms assisted by the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and Cedar Falls Police Department.    

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 23-CR-2034.

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