FILE – This undated file image provided by the Prince George’s County Police Department shows slain officer Jacai Colson. Michael Ford, who opened fire on a Maryland police station faces a prison sentence when he is sentenced Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, for his conviction on a murder charge in the friendly-fire killing of Colson, an undercover detective who tried to end the gunman’s attack. (Prince George’s County Police Department via AP, File)
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) – A gunman sentenced to 195 years in prison for an attack on a police station apologized Thursday to the parents of an undercover narcotics detective who was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow officer during the ambush.
Before a judge sentenced him, Michael Ford said he didn’t intend to harm anybody but himself when he opened fire on a Prince George’s County police station in March 2016. In November, a jury convicted Ford, 25, of second-degree murder in the killing of Detective Jacai Colson even though he didn’t fire the shot that killed the four-year veteran of the county’s police department.
“That man does not deserve to be dead. I should be dead,” Ford told Colson’s parents.
Before hearing Ford’s apology, James and Sheila Colson criticized authorities for not seeking criminal charges against the officer who killed their son. Jacai Colson exchanged gunfire with Ford before Officer Taylor Krauss fatally shot the plainclothes detective with a rifle, mistaking him for a threat.
FILE – This undated file photo provided by the state’s attorney’s office in Prince George’s County, Md., shows Malik Ford. His brother, Michael Ford, is charged with attacking a Maryland police station while his two brothers videotaped the shootout, which led to an officer mistakenly killing an undercover detective. Michael Ford faces a prison sentence for his conviction on a murder charge in the friendly-fire killing. He is scheduled to be sentenced by a Prince George’s County judge on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019. (Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office via AP)
Sheila Colson described Krauss as careless and reckless and said she believes her son was killed because he was black. Ford also is black. Krauss is white.