DETROIT – The wife of a Detroit police officer killed in the line of duty Wednesday night says her best friend is gone.
Detroit police officer Loren Courts was fatally shot on Wednesday, July 6, after responding to 911 calls of a shooting near Joy Road and Marlowe Street. As Courts and his partner arrived, the suspect immediately began shooting at them, according to authorities.
Courts was hit by the gunfire. His partner returned fire, killing the suspect.
Loren Courts’ wife, Kristine Courts, said she rushed to Sinai Grace Hospital where her husband was taken, but he had already died from his injuries.
“I saw the car, but I didn’t see any bullet holes in the car,” Kristine Courts said. “So, it looks like he got out of the car and he immediately got shot in the upper right side or the upper right side of his chest. And yeah, it was just too late. They said he didn’t suffer.”
Kristine Courts said she and her husband had been together for 16 years and were married for 11 years. Together, they have two children: a 15-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter.
“He’s a great dad, he called my daughter sugar foot,” she said. “And my son was his best buddy. He was a good husband.”
Kristine Courts also said her husband loved his job at the police department. In fact, he volunteered to work a double shift the day he was killed, otherwise he wouldn’t have been there.
“He was very, very loyal to DPD,” Kristine Courts said. “It was his passion. He tried so hard to get in and he finally did; he loved it. He loved being a police officer. But he also loved being a dad. He would tell you that was his greatest accomplishment was being a dad.”
Officer Courts leaves behind his wife, two children, his parents and four siblings. The man’s father is a retired officer from the Detroit Police Department. Kristine Courts chuckled and she said because of that, her husband stayed out of trouble as a kid.
“The officers are heartbroken,” Detroit police Chief James White said. “Their soul is crushed. This is the worst day of their life. Dad’s not coming home, a husband is not coming home. It’s unacceptable. It’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made the following statement:
“Gun violence is a uniquely American problem. I’m heartbroken for the family of the fallen officer. You know that the department, the city of Detroit, are wrapping their arms around the family and I will be reaching out to the family as well but you know, this is just a liberation of guns and gun violence. And I think that the work we’re doing to invest in more officers and to keep communities safer is more important than ever, but it is it’s really sad. This is a person who has served his community and risked life every single day. That showed up every single day and that’s why we got to give our law enforcement officers support training resources so that they can show up and keep us all safe.”