Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said Friday members of his staff were "devastated" in their belief the fatal shooting of a Detroit police officer might have been averted if his office had more help with a current case that might have put the suspect behind bars earlier.

His office is simply understaffed, Lucido said.

"My Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys are good people, overworked and now devastated in their belief that had they had more hands, this Warrant Request might have been processed sooner and the perpetrator may have not been on the street," Lucido said.

But, said Lucido, "it is both foolhardy and inappropriate to predict whether that warrant being issued sooner would have resulted in law enforcement promptly locating him to arrest, or a bond being set that would take him off the street."

Lucido has been in a long-simmering rift with the county over his budget.

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"I requested to use my approved staff budget to fill positions and even hire temporary employees to address a backlog, but my requests have been denied by the County Executive’s Office."

The prosecutor's comments came in an afternoon news release that began: "There's an old saying, 'Hindsight is 20-20.' ”

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel responded with his own statement, saying he is "appalled by this pitiful attempt to politically capitalize on the tragic death of a police officer."

"The bottom line is that Lucido failed the see the Red Flags in this case," Hackel said. "The 19-year-old shooter already had multiple police contacts for weapons and violence. Even if there had been a pile of warrant requests, the prosecutor had a duty to place this one on the top of the pile. He didn’t."

On Wednesday night, Detroit Police Officer Loren Courts was shot and killed on Detroit's west side. Detroit police identified the gunman as Ehmani Davis, 19, of Eastpointe, who also died after backup officers returned fire. 

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Last month, Eastpointe police were dispatched to a party where a dispute started and someone fired shots, Eastpointe Public Safety Director George Rouhib said Friday.

Davis was accused of tossing into a garbage can a black bag that contained a handgun and an extended magazine with about 30 rounds, Rouhib said.

Police requested authorization to charge Davis from Macomb prosecutors on June 21. But no charges had been filed by the time of the fatal police shooting in Detroit.

Eastpointe detectives wanted an assault with intent to murder charge against Davis, but nobody saw Davis holding the gun or shooting it, Rouhib said.

Lucido said his office agreed to authorize weapons-related charges against Davis, but the process was not finalized and had not been presented to a judge, whose signature would have made the charges formal. Lucido said assault charges weren't authorized against Davis because of a lack of evidence.

"After review and recognition of the lack of an eyewitness or other identification at that time of Ehmani Davis allegedly firing a weapon at others, but having evidence he illegally possessed a firearm, a Warrant Request was authorized for processing," the release said.

Lucido told the Free Press his office has an average turnaround time for review of seven to 10 business days, not including weekends or holidays. Police did not ask to expedite the charges, and the case was still under investigation, Lucido said.

On Friday, results of Davis' autopsy were released. He had 10 gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene of the Detroit shooting, Wayne County spokeswoman Megan Kirk said in an email. Toxicology results are expected to take about three weeks.

Before Wednesday's shooting, Davis was well known to Eastpointe Police. In the last three years, officers had 10-12 contacts with him, Rouhib said.

At the time of Davis' death, he had a pending misdemeanor case for disturbing the peace. That stemmed from an incident at his home May 30, Rouhib said. Davis' mother apparently wanted Davis out of the house. She was packing up his belongings and Davis was being boisterous, he said. The disturbing the peace case was dismissed Friday.

Last year, Eastpointe police said they found a stun gun in Davis' hoodie while responding to a call about a fight in the street. When officers arrived, Davis was near a car and told police they were just playing around, officials said.

Online court records show he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor weapons charge in connection with that case. 

Rouhib said prior contacts with Davis when he was younger were "nickel-and-dime" type situations, adding, he was an "incorrigible youth to the day he died."

"It's a tragedy," Rouhib said. 

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Contact Elisha Anderson: eanderson@freepress.com