Authorities have identified the officer who shot and killed 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya after a traffic stop earlier in April, according to the New York Post. In a statement, officials identified the officer as Christopher Schurr, who’s been with Grand Rapids Police Department for seven years and has been on administrative leave since the shooting.
Eric Winstrom, Grand Rapids’ police chief, said in a statement that Schurr’s name was released “in the interest of transparency, to reduce on-going speculation, and to avoid any further confusion.”
The revelation comes two weeks after videos of the killing circulated online. Footage shows the 26-year-old step out of the vehicle as an officer aggressively asks for his license and registration. Lyoya is then ordered to return to the car.
Lyoya and the officer get into a brief struggle in the front yard of a residence. Moments later, the officer grabs his gun and fires a single shot into the back of Lyoya’s head.
Schurr’s name began circulating online after the incident, the New York Post reports. At a memorial service for the late 26-year-old, his family pushed for the officer’s identity to be made public.
According to Newsweek, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who’s representing Lyoya’s family, described the shooting as an “execution,” and called for the officer to be “terminated for engaging in unnecessary, excessive use of deadly force.”
