DETROIT – A Detroit police officer whose partner was shot and killed last week in the line of duty spoke with Local 4 about the bond they shared coming up as classmates at the academy and eventually becoming partners on the force.
Officers Loren Courts and Amanda Hudgens were called Wednesday (July 6) to a scene on Detroit’s east side after police received reports of gunshots in the area. When they arrived, Courts was shot in the neck, and he later died from the injury.
Hudgens was praised as a hero for risking her life to try to save her partner. On Monday, she spoke publicly for the first time about their relationship.
“He was my first friend,” Hudgens said. “We sat next to each other at the academy. I helped him study for legal, found ways -- because he had a harder time remembering things -- I would come up with stupid acronyms so he would remember it. The day he passed legal, it was probably one of the most exciting times of my life, not just his.”
Click here for much more from Local 4′s interview with Hudgens.
She said when they graduated from the academy, Courts got assigned to the Second Precinct, while she went to work on the city’s east side.
Hudgens said Courts often told her about the Second Precinct, and she requested a transfer to join him.
“I missed him, and wanted to be his partner, so we texted, talked about it,” she said. “I put in my transfer papers, and within a couple of weeks I was over there, and we were partners ever since, for the last three and a half years.”
Hudgens said they worked together every day, singing along to music on the radio, and helping each other through bad days. One of her daughters referred to Courts as “Uncle Loren.”
“He was my best friend,” Hudgens said. “I’ve never connected with somebody in such a soulful way that -- it’s more than you can even describe.
“There’s been plenty of times we’ve run into gunfire together. I remember there was a run for shots fired and we were in the area. It sounded like we were at war, the amount of shots that rang out. I looked at him, he looked at me. He said, ‘You got me?’ He put his hand out. I said, ‘Always,’ gave him a high five -- I always do.”
You can watch more of the interview below.