Following police shooting that killed Patrick Lyoya, anger mounts in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- where new police chief recently came from CPD
CHICAGO (CBS Chicago/CBS News) -- The shooting death of an unarmed Black man in Grand Rapids, Michigan has led to protests and growing calls for accountability.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, the police chief in Grand Rapids – who is now in the middle of the controversy – has only been on the job for about a month. Prior to taking the chief position in Michigan, Chief Eric Winstrom was a longtime Chicago Police officer who had risen in rank to the post of commander of Area Five detectives.
Anger and frustration have been growing following the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya, in what started as a traffic stop for a license plate that didn't match the car.
Lyoya, 26, was shot and killed on April 4 by a police officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after a struggle in which the two men appeared to be fighting over the officer's stun gun.
Videos released Wednesday by the Grand Rapids Police Department included the officer's body worn camera, the dashcam from the officer's car, surveillance video from a house across the street and cell phone video captured by a passenger in the car.
In the videos, the officer, who is white, pulls Lyoya over for driving with mismatched plates. Lyoya gets out of his car and the officer, who was not identified, immediately tells him to stay in the car. Lyoya remains outside of the car and shuts the door. The officer asks if Lyoya speaks English and for his license several times. Lyoya tells him the license is in the car. The officer then instructs Lyoya to get it.
Lyoya appears to then ask a passenger to get the license, but the passenger seems to not know where it is. As Lyoya tries to walk to the passenger side of the car, the officer tells him to stop and grabs him. After a short struggle, Lyoya manages to get free and a foot chase ensues. The officer tackles Lyoya on a nearby lawn and the two struggle on the ground for an extended period of time as the officer repeatedly tells Lyoya to stop. The officer appears to briefly subdue Lyoya and the two stand up, however, the struggle then continues.
At some point, although it is not clear exactly when due to the close proximity of the struggle and poor camera quality from the surveillance video across the street, the officer takes out his Taser. He can be heard firing it twice, but, according to Cedar Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom, the Taser missed Lyoya both times. The two continue to struggle and at certain moments it appears that both men have their hands on the weapon. The two men fall to the ground again as the officer repeatedly tells Lyoya to let go of the Taser. At one point, the passenger can be heard saying that Lyoya isn't touching the Taser.
With Lyoya face down on the ground, the officer manages to get on top of him. The officer, still telling Lyoya to let go of the Taser, then takes out his gun and shoots Lyoya in the head.
The Lyoya family fled the Democratic Republic of Congo for a better life. They are now represented by attorney Ben Crump.
"From a traffic stop," Crump said. "It was a traffic stop."
Police Chief Winstrom is calling for peace as the investigation plays out.
Winstrom was sworn in last month, after more than 20 years as a high-ranking member of the Chicago Police Department. Most recently, Winstrom was part of the CPD during several high-profile police shootings that left people dead – including Adam Toledo, Anthony Alvarez, and Laquan McDonald.
"Me being from Chicago the last 20 years, I've handled many police shootings myself - so I do have a lot of experience in this," Winstrom said. "I was hoping to never have to utilize that experience here."
The Chicago Police Department says it is closely monitoring the situation in Grand Rapids. Sources say that some CPD officers are having days off canceled, but it's not directly in response to the situation in Michigan.