After a traffic encounter earlier this month, Patrick Lyoya, 26, shot by an unidentified Grand Rapids Police Department officer. Lyoya shot in the back of the head while lying face down on the ground after the two men fought over the officer’s stun gun. A police officer Christopher Schurr was charged on June 10, Thursday with one count of second-degree murder in the killing of Patrick. Dorcas Lyoya and Peter Lyoya Patrick’s parents claimed that they fled the Congo due to violence. They had not anticipated locating it in the United States. Come down to find out everything you need to know about Patrick Lyoya family, the shooting, the press conference, the police, and much more:
Christopher Schurr, a Michigan police officer, has been charged with second-degree murder.
Officer Christopher Schurr, an officer of the Grand Rapids Police Department since 2015, has been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Patrick Lyoya on Thrusday June 10. Schurr told Lyoya that he stopped his car because the license plate didn’t match the vehicle. After being requested to present a driver’s license, Lyoya began to flee. Schurr swiftly apprehended him, and the two wrestled across a front lawn before the fatal shot was fired.
The prosecutor in Kent County, Michigan, has charged Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop in April. https://t.co/ms13z5ZOAk
— ABC News (@ABC) June 10, 2022
Who was Patrick Lyoya? Age, Parents, Nationality, Education, Family
Patrick Lyoya, a Congolese refugee, was 26 years old. Fearing violence, his family came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lyoya is the firstborn son of his parents, and he has five younger siblings. In addition, he was the father of two children. Patrick Lyoya’s father said his son “killed like an animal.” In 2014, the family fled the Democratic Republic of Congo for a safer life in the United States.
“I came here to save my family,” Peter Lyoya told CBS News. “My son has been killed like an animal.” “The one [who] was supposed to be protecting Patrick’s life, is the one [who] killed Patrick and took Patrick’s life away,” he added.
He is described by friends as a hard worker and a soccer fanatic. 13 ON YOUR SIDE had previously communicated with his father, Peter Lyoya, via a translator.
“I didn’t believe that this could ever happen to me in this country,” Peter said. He says his family came to the United States for a safer life. “And I’m asking myself, ‘why did I come here?'”
Patrick Lyoya shot dead: What actually happened to him?
Lyoya tragically shot on April 4 after a traffic stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, roughly 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Detroit. His family is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Patrick Lyoya died around 8:10 a.m. on Monday, April 4th, during a traffic check near Griggs Street SE and Nelson Avenue, according to police. Lyoya tried to run on foot from an officer, police said, and a long fight occurred before the officer shot his pistol.
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Lyoya’s car, according to police, did not have a matching license plate. However, they did not state that this was the cause for the halt. Chief Eric Winstrom of the Grand Rapids Police Department said in a statement on Friday that he committed to releasing at least some police video of the incident by noon on Friday, April 15.
Patrick Lyoya’s family is seeking charges in his death.
In 2014, Peter Lyoya fled Congo with his six children to avoid violence. He now believes he brought them to the United States to die. Following a traffic check in Grand Rapids, a Michigan police officer fatally shot his eldest son, Patrick, 26, in the head. The video shows a brief foot chase and a fight over the white cop’s Taser before the white officer shoots Patrick Lyoya in the head while the Black man is face down on the ground.
Peter Lyoya claimed he traveled to the United States to get away from the country’s long-running civil war, in which many rebel factions have fought for control of territory in the mineral-rich eastern Congo. Patrick, who had two small children of his own, lived in Grand Rapids and would travel to Lansing on weekends to see his siblings, according to his father.
“Patrick never had a problem with anybody,” his dad told The Associated Press through an interpreter during an interview at his Lansing apartment. He and his wife later spoke at an emotional news conference in Grand Rapids, a city of about 200,000 people that’s about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Detroit.
Video of the shooting
Police in Grand Rapids revealed videos of the fatal shooting on Wednesday, citing a need for transparency. The films included vital evidence captured by a passenger in Lyoya’s car that morning. They show Lyoya stepping out of the automobile on a rainy street, looking perplexed and questioning, “What did I do?” while the officer repeatedly requests his driver’s license and directs him to return to the car.
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They fought in front of many houses, and the officer repeatedly told Lyoya to “let go” of his Taser, yelling, “Drop the Taser!” at one point. The fight over the Taser lasted around 90 seconds, according to Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom. The cop was on top of Lyoya in the dying seconds, kneeling on his back at times to control him.
Justice for Patrick Lyoya protest
On Sunday, community members gathered for a forum to talk about the death of Lyoya. The discussion focused on “community-based discourse, dialogue and dissemination of information” surrounding Lyoya’s death. While the event was partially to inform attendees and call for justice, it also aimed to comfort Lyoya’s family and those impacted by his death. Guest speakers included Kent County Commissioner Robert S. Womack, Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump, and local NAACP President Cle Jackson. Attendees also heard from Grand Rapids pastors. The forum held Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Renaissance Church of God in Christ Family Life Center in Grand Rapids. This forum came a day after community members marched in memory of Lyoya, calling for footage of the shooting released.
“We pray every day that our child won’t become the next George Floyd or the next Breonna Taylor, or the next Ahmaud Arbery, or the next Stephon Clark, or the next Alton Sterling, or the next Eric Garner,” said Crump.
Crump’s law firm was officially hired by the Lyoya family. He says their current focus is on releasing the body and dash camera footage, and after, they’re hoping for due process and the prosecution of the officer responsible.
“It was a traffic stop,” said Crump. “You should not be sentenced to death over a traffic stop.”
During the public comment phase of the meeting, over a hundred people marched through downtown to express their views to city officials. Speakers frequently confronted GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom and other commissioners directly to express their concerns regarding police activities in the city.
Press conference
During a press conference on Thursday, famed US civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said the tapes revealed an “unnecessary, unreasonable, [and] excessive use of deadly force.” You see a police officer turning a routine traffic check into a lethal execution.” According to Crump, the officer had no reason to shoot Lyoya, and the family is requesting that the officer be charged “to the full extent of the law” for killing their son, breaking their hearts, and orphaning his young children.
“The footage clearly demonstrates that this is an execution, as his mother and father have stated. Crump told reporters, “There’s no way to rationalize or spin it.” “That’s why we’re calling for Patrick’s justice.”
Grand Rapids police officials have placed the officer involved in the incident on administrative leave and have requested that the Michigan State Police investigate.
Brenda Lawrence, a US Representative from Michigan, called for “complete accountability and openness” on Wednesday.
“For Black Americans in Michigan and across the country, we are all too familiar with this injustice.
Where does the investigation go next?
The shooting is being investigated by the Michigan State Police.
GRPD stated that it is customary procedure for them to wait for MSP’s investigation conducting an internal affairs probe. The Office of Oversight and Public Accountability will keep an eye on the probes and analyze any conclusions.
The OPA offer recommendations based on any policy changes that may be discovered as a consequence of the inquiry.
Anyone with new information or footage should contact Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345, according to authorities.
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