GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 13, 2022 — At 3 p.m. today, officials from the Grand Rapids Police Department released the body-cam footage of the officer involved in the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya, 26, on April 4. After pulling over Lyoya for a license plate issue, the video shows the police officer, who has not yet been named, chasing a fleeing, unarmed Lyoya down and, after a prolonged struggle, fatally shooting him. State Rep. David LaGrand (D-Grand Rapids) issued the following statement:
“Patrick Lyoya is dead, at the hand of a police officer in Grand Rapids.
“For all the focus on justice that has happened in our nation and our community in recent years, another young Black man is dead, and our community cries out for answers, and for justice. For all the voices raised to testify that Black Lives Matter, that justice must include us all, we are a long way from a just society.
“We need justice in our community, but Patrick’s family needs Patrick back, something none of us can give them. Justice demands consequences for wrongs, and our community needs confidence that justice will be served in this case, and confidence that justice will be done in openness. So I am grateful that city leaders in Grand Rapids are committed to transparency in this process. Today, I am praying for Patrick’s family in their grief, and I am also working for justice in the days ahead. When an individual does wrong, there have to be consequences, and when systems are wrong we need to fix those systems, to prevent new tragedies.
“I am in Lansing now, but I spent the morning advocating to my colleagues in the city for immediate steps to improve our policies. I will head back and keep working to help our community work for change, to grieve and to improve.
“Our community deserves public safety that keeps everyone safe, and proportionate response is critical to public safety. We need better policy for responding to non-violent offenses and policies that ensure that police officers do not respond alone when backup is available.
“I am committed to working for justice for everyone in our city and our state. I have devoted my life to it. I will keep working, as long as I have strength and opportunity, to make sure we build a just and a safe community, where further tragedies like the killing of Patrick Lyoya do not happen.”