- The police officer who shot Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head during a traffic stop has been identified.
- The police chief identified the officer as Christopher Schurr.
- He said he released the name "in the interest of transparency, to reduce ongoing speculation, and to avoid any further confusion."
The police chief of Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Monday revealed the identity of the officer who shot Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head during an April 4 traffic stop as Christopher Schurr.
"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," Chief Eric Winstrom said in a statement shared with the Associated Press.
Winstrom had previously said he would not release the name of the officer who shot 26-year-old Lyoya unless he was charged with the crime, AP reported.
Lyoya's family had repeatedly called for the police department to release the officer's name despite Winstrom saying it was common practice to keep the shooter's identity private, AP reported.
Video footage from the traffic stop shows a struggle between the officer and Lyoya as the officer tried to wrestle Lyoya to the ground. The footage shows the officer using a taser and telling Lyoya to "let go of the taser."
Footage shows the officer then pinning Lyoya to the ground and using a taser on him twice. The video then shows the officer appearing to shoot Lyoya in the back of the head.
An independent autopsy commissioned by Lyoya's family's attorneys confirmed that Lyoya's cause of death was a shot in the back of the head, Insider previously reported.