Man pleads guilty to buying gun used to kill Detroit cop

DETROIT (AP) — A 26-year-old man accused of buying a gun used in the fatal July shooting of a Detroit police officer faces up to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty in the case.

Sheldon Avery Thomas, 26, pleaded guilty Monday to making a false statement in the acquisition of a firearm — a weapon that was used to shoot and kill Officer Loren Courts, 40, during a ambush on Detroit's west side.

Thomas, who faces up to two years in prison, is scheduled to be sentenced March 29 in federal court in Detroit, The Detroit News reported.

Thomas' guilty plea comes five months after he charged for allegedly buying a pistol from an Eastpointe gun dealer. Prosecutors said he bought the pistol for his friend, Ehmani Davis, 19, who was not allowed to purchase a weapon because of his criminal history.

Police said Davis fatally shot Courts on July 6 during an ambush as Courts and his partner were responding to a report of a man firing a weapon.

Davis opened fire through the closed window of his apartment unit and a bullet struck Courts in the neck as he sat in a squad car, police said.

Another officer fatally shot Davis as Courts' partner was rendering medical aid to the wounded officer.