The Grand Rapids, Michigan police officer who shot and killed 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya, a Black refugee from Congo, has been identified.
Officer Christopher Schurr, 31, fatally shot Lyoya in the back of the head on April 4, said Grand Rapids Police Department Chief Eric Winstrom. Schurr, who is white, has been working with the department for seven years, The Associated Press said, "after starring as a pole vaulter at a small college and marrying his longtime girlfriend during a church mission trip to Africa."
Officials say Schurr's name had been circulating following a viral video of him seemingly in a confrontation with Lyoya during a traffic stop for a license plate violation. "Lyoya, who was unarmed, was face down on the ground when he was shot in the back of the head," AP reports. The involved officer wasn't publicly identified until three days after Lyoya's funeral, as family members and community activists demanded the information released.
In the video, Schurr is seen on top of Lyoya demanding he take his hand off the police Taser. After Lyoya's family requested an autopsy, a forensic pathologist determined the officer's gun was pressed into his head when he was shot.
Winstrom said he released Schurr's name "in the interest of transparency, to reduce ongoing speculation, and to avoid any further confusion."
Schurr is on administrative leave as the incident is investigated.