Patrick Lyoya Shooting: Grand Rapids Officer Charged

A Michigan prosecutor charged Christopher Schurr, a white Grand Rapids police officer, on Thursday with one count of second-degree murder in the death of Patrick Lyoya, who was shot in the back of the head during a struggle during an April traffic check.

Schurr stopped Lyoya, 26, for an unregistered licence plate. Lyoya got out of the car and fled. He fought Schurr’s arrest attempt, and the officer shot him while the two were wrestling for control of Lyoya on the ground.

Lyoya’s final moments were documented in a series of videos that were later made public. Patrick’s father, Peter Lyoya, said Thursday, June 9 that the indictment relieves the family, even though his son will never return.

The incident prompted the state’s civil rights agency to repeat a request for a Justice Department pattern-and-practice inquiry into the Grand Rapids Police Department, barely one month after a new police chief took office.