Street renaming to honor courthouse guard, former officer Stanley Cooper

A security guard killed during a shooting spree in downtown Las Vegas will be honored Thursday when the city renames Chef Andre Rochat Place to Stanley W. Cooper Place.

City officials will have a renaming ceremony on the street at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Stanley Cooper, a retired Las Vegas police officer, died Jan. 4, 2010, when gunman Johnny Lee Wicks, 66, opened fire near the entrance of the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse.

Cooper had been a courthouse security guard since 1994 after 26 years with the Metropolitan Police Department.

Cooper, 65, was killed instantly by gunfire from Wicks, who was reportedly upset by a dispute with the Social Security Administration. Wicks was killed in a shootout with federal marshals and courthouse security officers who chased him across Las Vegas Boulevard.

Chef Andre Rochat Place is just east of the courthouse near the location of its namesake's former restaurant. Rochat has moved his restaurant to the Monte Carlo and agreed to the name change, city officials said.

The name change was approved during a City Council meeting last week.

"That was a horrible day, and it is hard to believe almost two years have passed," said Ward 3 Councilman Bob Coffin, who represents the area. "We can honor him in the place where he died in the service of the people of Las Vegas."

Coffin, Mayor Carolyn Goodman and representatives from the U.S. Marshals Service are scheduled to speak at the renaming ceremony.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.