Federal trial scheduled for felon accused of making threat with loaded gun at school

Trial is scheduled in federal court for a felon accused of making a threat with a loaded gun at a school basketball game in Pontiac.

An indictment was recently filed against Cleve Nichols III, charging him with felon in possession of a firearm. Nichols, 34, allegedly had the 9mm handgun with him at the school on Oct. 12.

The complaint doesn't name the school, but states that Oakland County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched that day on a report of a person — later identified as Nichols — having a gun at the school gymnasium, and while en route were told the person was threatening people at the basketball game with a pistol hanging out of his pocket. The gym was reportedly barricaded while Nichols was just outside of it.

Nichols' trial is set to start Dec. 19 before Judge Robert White in U.S. District Court – Eastern District of Michigan.

According to the complaint, Nichols was arrested in the school parking lot, and the handgun was recovered from underneath a pickup truck where witnesses reported seeing Nichols hide it. The handgun had a round in the chamber and 13 live rounds in the magazine, the complaint states.

As further stated in the complaint, a school employee told deputies that Nichols was upset with one of the coaches, and that the employee had stood in front of Nichols, asking him to consider the children. The employee reportedly refused to move when Nichols said to, and Nichols then exited the gym. Approximately 50 people were inside the gym at the time, including 25 or 30 kids.

Another witness told deputies that Nichols had a gun protruding from his pocket and was yelling at the coach, threatening to "air out this b*tch," the complaint states. Several people had pleaded with Nichols to leave, the complaint states, and he eventually did.

After being arrested, Nichols admitted to being a felon with a firearm in his pocket while at the gym, the complaint states, and that he hid it under the pickup truck in the parking lot. He also reportedly told law enforcement a few moments earlier that he "wouldn't try and go up to the school and hurt nobody."

Nichols, who's in custody, has a criminal history that includes convictions for narcotics possession, assault with a dangerous weapon and domestic violence and/or knowingly assaulting a pregnant individual. He's had two stints in prison, with his most recent discharge from the Michigan Department of Corrections on Dec. 19, 2022.