A Grand Rapids police officer who fatally shot a man in the back of the head during a struggle that followed a traffic stop on April 4 shared a connection with him eight years ago and half a world away.
The officer, Christopher Schurr, 31, whose name was released Monday by police, had taken missionary trips to Kenya when he was younger and planned to get married there in 2014, according to an online story that year.
Patrick Lyoya, the 26-year-old who was killed in the shooting in Grand Rapids, immigrated to America from another African country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2014.
Schurr, who has been an officer for seven years, 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 ¾ inches at the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Championships on May 2, 2014, setting a school and conference record, according to Sienna Heights.
A college teammate, Ryan Hopson, told the Associated Press that Schurr was quiet and mild-mannered in college, friendly with a quick smile.
“He always had a good vibe,” Hopson said. “I can’t say nothing bad about him. I really can’t. ... I was shocked to see it was him, but I don’t know what it’s like to be a cop and have my life on the line.”
Schurr grew up in Byron Center and attended Byron Center High School.
He joined the Grand Rapids Police Department in 2015, the department has said previously. He remains on administrative leave, without police powers, while Michigan State Police investigate the shooting.
According to video that captured the incident, Lyoya was face down on the ground and trying to rise when he was shot in the back of the head by Schurr. The White officer was on top of him and can be heard on video demanding that Lyoya take his hand off the officer’s stun gun.
Schurr is heard earlier saying Lyoya was stopped because the license plate did not match the car Lyoya had been driving in a Grand Rapids neighborhood. Lyoya declined to get back into the vehicle as ordered and fled the scene. A short foot chase ensued before the deadly struggle.
According to a review of his public records by The Detroit News, Schurr has no criminal history in Michigan. Grand Rapids police haven't released records in his disciplinary file, which have been requested by The News.
Schurr’s name has circulated throughout the community for weeks after the public viewed videos of the shooting. But the Grand Rapids Police Department said it wouldn’t release his identity unless he was charged with a crime. The department relented Monday after facing pressure inside and outside the community, including a fiery speech by the Rev. Al Sharpton at Lyoya’s Friday funeral.
In doing so, Police Chief Eric Winstrom said the department is rethinking past practices as it undergoes police reform.
"In the interest of transparency, to reduce ongoing speculation, and to avoid any further confusion, I am confirming the name already publicly circulating — Christopher Schurr — as the officer involved in the April 4 officer-involved shooting," he said in a statement.
Efforts to reach Schurr by The News have been unsuccessful. No one answered the door at his home last week. The police officer's union, the Grand Rapids Police Officer's Association, did not respond to a message left by The News.
Ven Johnson, a Lyoya family attorney, said it took too long to learn the officer’s identity. He said the delay flew in the face of the city promising to be transparent about the shooting.
"It took them three weeks to the day of the shooting to release his name,” he said. "The family had to bury (Lyoya) without knowing the name of the man who ended his life."
Cle Jackson, president of the Greater Grand Rapids NAACP, said he was happy to see the officer's name released.
“We have to hold law enforcement accountable,” he said. “Fundamentally, their job is to be public servants.”
Knowing Schurr’s name will help the public learn more about him through public records requests, Jackson said. He wants to know if Schurr was involved in any misconduct or the subject of any internal affairs investigations.
Looking into the officer’s background could actually help him, Jackson said. A probe of his work history might find that he’s been a good officer.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan was among the groups seeking Schurr's name.
"This step toward transparency must continue throughout the investigation,” the ACLU tweeted Monday. The ACLU, along with the Greater Grand Rapids NAACP, LINC Up and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center also said they want a prosecutor outside Kent County to review the case and for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate.
Once the state police finish investigating, the agency will forward its findings to the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office for the consideration of any charges. County Prosecutor Chris Becker has told the public not to expect a quick decision.
Becker on Monday declined to respond to questions about whether the decision to release Schurr's name affects his office. In a brief statement, he said State Police are still working on the investigation.
Meanwhile, Michigan State Police Lt. Michelle Robinson said in an email: "We were advised that the Grand Rapids Police intended to release the officer's name. The Michigan State Police will continue to ensure that all evidence and facts are accurately collected and documented."
During Lyoya’s funeral on Friday, Sharpton demanded authorities publicly identify Schurr. He said it was unacceptable that the officer's name would be released only if he’s charged with a crime, which had been the previous position of the city.
He said police routinely release the names of Blacks suspected of crimes.
“You put their name all over the news,” he said. “Every time we’re suspected of something, you put our name out there. How dare you hold the name of a man that killed this man.”
Sharpton, who gave the eulogy, also demanded the U.S. Justice Department investigate the shooting.
The Grand Rapids Police Department noted in its statement that, while the city "has a long-standing practice of withholding names of any employee under investigation until the conclusion of an administrative investigation," as well as the names of individuals who have not been arrested or charged with a crime, "police reform requires evaluating many long-standing practices to ensure our actions are consistent with the best interests of the community and the individuals involved."
The city, Grand Rapids police, the Office of Oversight and Public Accountability and the Human Resources Department will be reviewing the policies, according to the release.
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(Staff Writer Mike Martindale contributed.)
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