(WXYZ) — Shawna Lancaster lives just a few houses down from where Officer Loren Courts was shot and killed Wednesday night. She was still visibly shaken on Thursday as she recalled the traumatic events unfold.
“His partner, the scream I’ll never forget. She was screaming. She put herself over him so he couldn’t get shot anymore,” said Lancaster.
She said there were kids playing on the street at the time of the shooting. Lancaster said she and her neighbors heard shots ringing out for nearly 5 minutes, at first believing they were firecrackers.
“Man we got some good police officers. People need to appreciate them more. Because I’ve seen it with my own eyes them lined up so that man couldn’t come down this street to hurt more people,” Lancaster explained.
She said they are heroes.
“They put their lives on the line for us yesterday. And I appreciate them. And my heart goes out to the family,” said Lancaster.
She also said she wants to see action.
“They really do need to get those guns off the street. They don’t need to be in our neighborhood. We shouldn’t be scared of that. It sounded like we were in a war zone,” explained Lancaster.
Pastor Maurice L. Hardwick, the founder of Power Ministry Church and president of the Live in Peace Movement, feels the same.
“We got to make better decisions. And there have to be some law changes because these assault weapons are not shooting deers. They’re shooting dear people,” said Hardwick.
He said he hopes this can wake up people everywhere.
“This is disgusting and it’s hurtful. And it’s time for change in this country, in this city, in this state,” Hardwick said.
Hardwick said he wants to salute every officer for their bravery, for protecting the neighborhood.
“Other people are running from it, they are running to it. Talking about heroes? A heroic moment to block the children? And to lay down your life,” said Hardwick.
Ami Dockett is a family friend of the Courts. She said Officer Court was exactly the kind of person that would run toward the problem.
“You couldn’t ask for a better person than Loren. He would give you the shirt off his back…He was fun, he was funny, always cracking jokes,” explained Dockett.
She said Courts’ family was everything to him.
“He’s not going to be able to see his son turn 16 and drive a car. His daughter will be 10 in December,” said Dockett with tears in her eyes.
She said he wouldn’t have normally even been working at the time of the shooting.
“Loren was supposed to be off work at 6 last night. And he had called Kristine. The only reason he was there is because he wanted to work some overtime. So had he gone home when he was supposed to, he never would have been there,” explained Dockett.
If you would like to donate to Courts' family to help with raising his kids, visit their GoFundMe page.
