GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Christopher Schurr has earned multiple commendations during his seven-year career as a Grand Rapids police officer, including being lauded several times for successful foot chases.
Grand Rapids officials on Friday released portions of Schurr's personnel file following a public records request from The Detroit News. The records show Schurr received 14 commendations and was the subject of two internal investigations, one sustained after he was found at fault in a traffic crash involving his scout car.
Schurr, 31, is suspended pending the results of a Michigan State Police investigation into the April 4 shooting death of motorist Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese immigrant.
Schurr pulled over Lyoya's car, which had a license plate that reportedly did not match the car. According to video released by police, Lyoya got out of the car and ran, and Schurr chased him.
The two men struggled in a yard next to the car, and Schurr deployed his stun gun twice without effect. Schurr can be heard saying "let go of the Taser" before he shoots Lyoya in the back of the head as the man was face down on the ground with Schurr on top of him.
Critics have questioned Schurr's decision to chase Lyoya when the traffic stop was for an improper plate. The Rev. Al Sharpton addressed the issue during Lyoya's funeral last week.
"You’re going to run and chase somebody down about car tags?" Sharpton asked. "You’re going to take your gun out of your holster and take his life about car tags?"
Nine of the 14 commendations involved traffic stops, according to records. He was lauded at least four times by the department for his initiative in foot chases.
Former Grand Rapids Police Chief David Rahinsky wrote in an April 13, 2017, letter that Schurr was given a Team Performance Award in part because of his initiative in chasing suspects. Schurr at the time was a member of the night shift on South Team Five, a patrol unit that concentrated on drug, gun and gang crimes.
"The countless foot chases, robberies, stolen car recoveries, traffic stops and shootings that the Team initiated, or responded to, resulted in over 500 felony arrests in 2016 alone," Rahinsky wrote.
"The team had zero citizen complaints for excessive force and/or discourtesy," the letter said. "It was hindered by over 80 suspects who resisted those arrests, and over 50 firearms were from those who were arrested."
On Dec. 1, 2018, Rahinsky wrote another letter lauding Schurr for chasing a suspect.
"After conducting a traffic stop, the passenger fled on foot," Rahinsky wrote. "During your pursuit of him, you observed a pistol fall out of his waistband. You continued the pursuit and successfully apprehended him."
Another illegal handgun and marijuana were recovered, Rahinsky wrote.
Rahinsky also lauded Schurr in a May 31, 2016, letter that describes a March 15, 2016, traffic stop.
"While handcuffed and about to be placed in your cruiser, the suspect immediately fled on foot and a chase ensued," Rahinsky wrote. "He continued to actively resist, even after being caught."
A backup unit arrived, and the man was later arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and resisting and obstructing a police officer, according to the records.
Three pages of the 72-page personnel file released by Grand Rapids officials were redacted. It was unclear what information was withheld. His personal information, such as his Social Security number and home address, also were redacted.
In Schurr's 2017 performance evaluation, his supervisor gave him the highest possible rating for his rank and the second-highest ranking for possible promotion.
In March 2021, Grand Rapids internal affairs investigators determined Schurr was at fault for causing a traffic crash while in a patrol car.
"You backed unsafely," the March 4, 2021, Complaint Action Report said. "Remember that you are expected to safely operate your vehicle with due care and caution at all times."
A July 14, 2021, Complaint Action Report describes a second internal investigation into Schurr, after a citizen accused him of stealing his grandmother's ashes during an arrest. The investigation exonerated Schurr of the charge.
Schurr took missionary trips to Kenya when he was younger and planned to get married there in 2014, according to an online story that year. He had made similar trips to Kenya when he was younger and planned to get married there in 2014.
Schurr was active with his church, Corinth Reform, in Byron Center, a suburb of Grand Rapids, according to the story in the Vaulter. He and other church members built houses in Kenya.
When he and his high school sweetheart became engaged in 2014, they couldn’t afford to have a wedding celebration and travel separately to Kenya so they decided to do both at the same time, he told the publication.
“We’re going to do a wedding their style,” Schurr said.
He was going to wear an African outfit and the bride would don a Kenyan-style dress.
Schurr graduated from Sienna Heights University in 2014 with a degree in criminal justice, according to the Vaulter.
He was a decathlete at the small Catholic college in Adrian and focused solely on pole vaulting in his senior year. He vaulted 17 feet, 1 3/4 inches at the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Championships on May 2, 2014, setting a school and conference record, according to Sienna Heights.
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(Detroit News staff writer Francis X. Donnelly contributed to this story.)
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