Trial date set for woman accused of providing guns used in deadly Charlotte ambush

CHARLOTTE — A trial date has been set in Charlotte for Natasha Gibbs, the woman accused of illegally providing guns to a suspect who used it to kill four law enforcement officers in April 2024.

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Gibbs faces trial in just over two months in connection with the incident, which marks the deadliest day for law enforcement in the city’s history.

Federal prosecutors allege Gibbs violated federal law by purchasing at least two firearms she knew were not for her personal use and later providing them to Terry Hughes. U.S. Marshals were attempting to serve a warrant on Hughes at a home on Galway Drive in east Charlotte when police say he opened fire from inside the house, killing four officers before dying in a subsequent shootout with police.

Those four officers were Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer, N.C. Corrections Officers Sam Poloche and Alden Ellion and U.S. Marshal Tommy Weeks.

Four victims in an attack on a U.S. Marshals task force in Charlotte Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks, Fugitive Task Force Officer Sam Poloche, Fugitive Task Force Officer William 'Alden' Elliott, CMPD Officer Joshua Eyer

Colleagues and loved ones of the fallen officers filled the courtroom on Friday as Gibbs learned her trial date. Gibbs is the only person who has been arrested in connection with the case.

The first pretrial motion hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16, and the trial is set for Jan. 5, 2027. Gibbs pleaded not guilty to a federal gun charge.

“I think it’s very emotional for us. It’s the first time we really had an opportunity to be in a kind of courtroom setting,” said Kelly Weeks, Tommy Weeks’ widow.

She was one of the may family members of the victims at the Mecklenburg Courthouse on Friday.

“I think it’s just a lot,” she said. “I’ve had two-and-a-half years just building up, and then now you’re at the middle of something that is really in front of you, something real, something tangible. Whereas before, we just had a situation: The person who committed the crime was gone. But there’s more to this crime than just the person pulling the trigger.”

The judge said Gibbs bought two firearms from Blackstone Shooting Sports on Wilkinson Boulevard in west Charlotte.

Gibbs bought a 9mm pistol from there in October 2021 and a 5.56-caliber assault rifle in October 2023. Then, at some point in the next six months, Gibbs gave them to Hughes, according to an indictment. Hughes used those guns to shoot and kill the four officers.

Prosecutors said Gibbs broke federal law when she “represented … she was not acquiring the firearm on behalf of someone else” and by transferring a firearm to Hughes knowing that his using or carrying it would constitute a felony.

The indictment also says one of the magistrate judges “has a conflict of interest and shall not be assigned to this matter.”

That’s why the court brought in U.S. Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn from West Virginia and a federal prosecutor from Virginia to ensure a fair trial, since many of the people who work in the courthouse knew the victims.

Gibbs remains out of jail on bond while awaiting trial. She is required to attend all pretrial motion hearings.

Defense counsel faces a substantial workload ahead of the proceeding. Her attorney said there is one terabyte of discovery material to review and indicated he may request a continuance.