DETROIT – A gun shop owner says he followed the proper steps after a Detroit man was arrested for buying a gun and giving it to the teen who killed Detroit police Officer Loren Courts.
The Department of Justice is charging that man with lying as he bought that gun at an Eastpointe shop last month.
Local 4 talked to the gun shop owner about that sale Monday, and he had something to say.
Bill Kucyk is a former Detroit police officer, S.W.A.T. team member, and now an attorney.
He also owns Action Impact Firearms, and he told local 4 Monday (July 11) that he consoled his employees involved in the firearm sale, saying they could not know how this would happen.
On May 29, 2022, Sheldon Avery Thomas, seen in the video player above on the left and Ehmani Davis on the right, went to Action Impact in Eastpointe looking to buy a Romarm Cugir Draco 7.62 caliber pistol.
The two men stood together at the counter as Thomas completed his purchase paperwork.
When Thomas’s FBI background check came back with a delay status, Kucyk said:
“The federal government says that on a delay status after three business days, we can transfer the firearm. We arbitrarily make it longer and try to give the feds a little bit longer to give me a response.”
So, nine days later, on June 7, 2022, Thomas returned alone to Action Impact. And because the feds did not flag any problems, Thomas legally purchased the gun.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms claims Thomas walked out of the store, and video surveillance cameras from the Eastpointe neighborhood show Thomas illegally re-selling his Draco to Davis for $50.
They claim this is evidence of an illegal straw sale.
The feds told a judge Thomas told them he told Davis, “Don’t do nothing #*$&%*#@ stupid because my name is on it.”
“It’s not unusual to have maybe two or three a week that we suspect are straw purchases, and we do not transfer those firearms,” Kucyk said. “Unfortunately, there was nothing about this transaction that would put a sales staff on notice.”
Detroit Police Chief James White had this to say when the feds announced a straw sale charge against Thomas:
“We will continue to collaborate with our local and federal partners to stop these dangerous individuals from victimizing our community.”
Thomas is in federal custody, and they’re going to hold a detention hearing for him on Tuesday (July 12) in federal court to decide whether he should stay behind bars as his case progresses.
The Department of Justice said Sunday that we should hear more about an august 2021 murder where Thomas is considered a prime suspect.
Read more: Man charged with illegally buying gun for teen who fatally shot Detroit police officer