A Niles man was sentenced in southwestern Michigan for being a felon in possession of a firearm connected to shootings.

Police received information that members of the Pop Out Gang in Niles were planning a retaliatory shooting for the deaths of two people and that they planned to use firearms and ammunition at the home of 20-year-old Lawrence Slaughter II.

Slaughter was on state probation for tampering with evidence, concealing a weapon and assaulting a police officer at the time.

During a probation compliance check, police found firearms in a bedroom, including a handgun and an AR rifle with around 100 rounds of ammunition.

Two pistols were also found in the closet, one of which had an illegal machine gun conversion device attached. The gun was also linked to four prior shootings in South Bend.