Community rallies at vigil for slain Detroit Police Officer Loren Courts

Eve Sampson, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read
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Seated against a sea of solemn faces, 9-year-old Devyn Courts rested her head on her mother's shoulder.

She was among 200 people who attended the Detroit Police 2nd Precinct's vigil Friday afternoon in honor of her late father, Officer Loren Courts, 40, who was killed in the line of duty July 6.

Loren Courts was fatally shot when he and his partner, Amanda Hudgens, 29, responded to a call about shots fired in the Fiskhorn neighborhood on Detroit's west side. The shooter, later identified as Ehmani Davis, 19, died when other officers on the scene returned fire.

Neighborhood resident Shawna Lancaster, who witnessed the incident, attended the vigil in a homemade T-shirt featuring Loren Courts leaning against his vehicle. "I am one of the people he saved," she said tearfully. "Showing up — this is the least I can do."

When Lancaster heard the gunman firing, she initially thought it was fireworks. Seeing police show up was a momentary relief before the unthinkable. She watched Hudgens throw her body over Loren Courts after he was shot. "There were a lot of kids on the block," she said. Courts "was protecting us."

Kristine Courts, center, sits with her son Darian Courts, 15, left and her daughter Devyn Courts, 9, during a vigil to honor her husband and their father, fallen officer Loren Courts during at the Detroit Police Department's Second Precinct on July 15, 2022. Over 200 people showed up to the Second Precinct Detroit Police Department's vigil this afternoon in honor of her late father, Loren Courts, 40, who was killed in the line of duty last week.

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At the vigil, Lancaster said, she gave Hudgens one of her T-shirts.

Detroit Police Chief James White led the vigil at the precinct house on the city's west side, which was attended by members of Loren Courts' extended family. "We're rocked and we are hurt," he said, speaking on behalf of the police department, "we are rocked, but we are not defeated."

White alternately referred to Officer Courts in the past and present tense. He said the department would continue to work with "integrity and courage... because that's who he is and who he was."

State Rep. Stephanie Young, D-Detroit, addressed the family while calling for gun control.

Larry and Lillian Courts, the parents of fallen officer Loren Courts, listens as members of the community and fellow officers come out to honor fallen officer Loren Courts during a vigil at the Detroit Police Department's Second Precinct on July 15, 2022. Over 200 people showed up to the Second Precinct Detroit Police Department's vigil this afternoon in honor of her late father, Loren Courts, 40, who was killed in the line of duty last week.

"Please know we're here with you, beyond the prayers," Young said, her voice  cracking, "and prayers matter, but the work with the prayers is what's going to make a difference."

Members of the Detroit Police Chaplains Corps prayed, asking the community to bow their heads.

While they prayed, Darian Courts, 15, Loren Courts' son, rubbed the knee of his mother, Kristine Courts.

To close the ceremony, Chief Chaplain Lennell Caldwell asked everyone in attendance to turn to their right and left and say "I love you" to those next to them.

As the crowd followed his instructions, Loren Courts' father stood up. Raising an arm to the sky, Larry Courts, a retired Detroit  police officer, yelled above the crowd, "I love you!"

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit police precinct holds vigil for slain Officer Loren Courts