Grand Rapids officials said Wednesday that a Michigan police officer was charged with second-degree murder in the April shooting of Patrick Lyoya.
City Manager Mark Washington said in a statement that Christopher Schur, a seven-year veteran of the Grand Rapids Police Department, was fired Friday after a recommendation from the police chief and the Office of Labor Relations.
“Due to the ongoing criminal case and the potential for civil litigation, I will not make any additional comment about Mr. Schur at this time,” Washington said.
Schur’s termination, effective June 10, came a day after Kent County Prosecutor Chris Baker charged Schur with murder in the murder of Lyoya.
Shoor was on administrative leave since the shooting.
A lawyer for Lyoya’s family said the shooting was overdue.
“It’s about time! The City of Grand Rapids should have fired Christopher Schur on the day of the shooting, but instead, paid him for two months and waited for the Kent County prosecutor to make a decision for him,” Lawyer Wayne Johnson told HuffPost in a statement Thursday. “Any police officer who uses excessive, unnecessary and illegal lethal force should always be terminated immediately. This is something that the Lyoya family has requested since the day of shooting. ,
Lyoya, a black man, was shot in the back of his head by Shure, who is white, after an April 4 traffic stop. Officials said Shoor noticed that the license plate did not match the vehicle.
Police body camera footage showed Schur asking 26-year-old Lyoya for his driver’s license. That’s when things got physical.
Lyoya tried to escape, but was stopped by Shur and grounded the conflict. Authorities said Shur attempted to shock Lyoya with a stun gun, but was caught by Lyoya.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said the pair fought over the stun gun for about 90 seconds, during which the device was deployed twice without contact.
Police said the officer’s body camera footage stopped working at this point. Cellphone video taken by a passenger in Lyoya’s car captured Schur saying “Let’s go off the Taser” before reaching for his gun and shooting Lyoya in the back of the head while on top of him.
The Grand Rapids Police Officers Association, the union representing the city’s police officers, is backing Shure, saying that police officers have a legal right to defend themselves.
Schur’s defense attorney declined to comment on the termination.
