Police on Monday identified the Michigan cop who fatally shot a 26-year-old black man in the back of the head after a traffic stop earlier this month.
Christopher Schurr, who has been a member of the Grand Rapids Police Department for seven years, was confirmed by authorities as the officer who shot dead Patrick Lyoya on April 4.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said in a Monday statement he released Schurr’s name “in the interest of transparency, to reduce on-going speculation, and to avoid any further confusion.”
Schurr’s name had been circulating online since his face was seen in videos of the April 4 confrontation with Lyoya.
Lyoya’s family had called for the officer to be publicly identified at a recent memorial service.
The department’s statement comes two weeks after chilling video footage of the killing was made available to the public.
Schurr had pulled over Lyoya on April 4 after he said the car’s license plate did not match
the vehicle.
Video shows Lyoya step out of the car, appearing confused, as the cop demands his license and registration and orders him to step back in the car.
Lyoya starts to walk away as the officer attempts to cuff him.
After a short foot chase, Schurr and Lyoya get into a scuffle in a front yard and wrestle over the officer’s taser. While on top of Lyoya, Schurr draws his gun and fires a single shot into the back of Lyoya’s head, who immediately stops moving, video shows.
A forensic pathologist performing an independent autopsy on Lyoya confirmed that he was shot once by a gun that was held to the back of his head.
Schurr has been on administrative leave since the incident as Michigan State Police investigate whether he should be charged. According to MLive, he had been with the department for seven years.
Winstrom added that the department would release more information on the shooting later this week.
The death of Lyoya, a Congolese refugee, sparked protests in Grand Rapids by activists who say it represents the latest example of police violence against young Black men.
