100 WVIA Way
Pittston, PA 18640

Phone: 570-826-6144
Fax: 570-655-1180

Copyright © 2024 WVIA, all rights reserved. WVIA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A Michigan police officer is charged with murder in Patrick Lyoya shooting

Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr stops to talk with a resident in 2015 in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr stops to talk with a resident in 2015 in Grand Rapids, Mich.

A police officer in Michigan has been charged with second-degree murder, following a shooting of Patrick Lyoya that took place on April 4.

Grand Rapids officer Christopher Schurr shot the unarmed Lyoya in the back of the head following a struggle during a traffic stop. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said Schurr has turned himself in and will be arraigned tomorrow.

As Lyoya was on the ground, Shurr demanded that he "let go" of the officer's Taser, and then fired the fatal shot.

Schurr told Lyoya, a refugee from Congo, that he stopped him because of an issue with his license plate. When he asked for Lyoya's driver's license, Lyoya started to run.

After Schurr caught him, the two men struggled prior to the fatal shot.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

NPR Staff