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The Grand Rapids Police Department released several videos on Wednesday of an officer shooting and killing a Black man last week during a traffic stop after a brief struggle over the officer’s taser.
The release – which includes dashcam footage, bodycam footage, a neighbor’s doorbell camera, and bystander video – was released quickly for the sake of transparency, Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said.
The officer, a White man who has not been identified, pulled 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya over on the morning of April 4 because his car’s tags didn’t belong to the vehicle.
Lyoya, who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, got out of the car before the officer could reach him. The officer asked for his license and told him to get back in the car but Lyoya refused, then started running away.
After a brief foot chase, the officer grabbed Lyoya and the two started struggling for the officer’s taser.
After about two minutes, the officer pulled his handgun and shot Lyoya once in the head, killing him.
“From my view of the video, Taser was deployed twice. Taser did not make contact,” Winstrom said at a press conference. “And Mr. Lyoya was shot in the head. However, that’s the only information that I have.”
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Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights attorney, said that the video “clearly shows that this was an unnecessary, excessive, and fatal use of force against an unarmed Black man who was confused by the encounter and terrified for his life.”
“We demand that the officer who killed Patrick not only be terminated for his use of excessive and fatal force, but be arrested and prosecuted for the violent killing of Patrick Lyoya,” Crump said in a statement.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, who will decide whether to bring charges against the officer, asked for the community’s patience as he reviews all the evidence.
“This is an extremely critical incident, and one that everyone involved in the investigation is taking very seriously,” Becker said. “As I have said in a previous statement, I have one goal – the pursuit of truth – and I am committed to that.”
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest the shooting at the Grand Rapids Police Department’s headquarters on Wednesday evening.
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The officer, a 7-year veteran of the force, will not be identified unless the prosecutors bring charges. The officer has been placed on paid leave during the investigation.
