Cop shoots suspect in the back of the head while struggling to arrest him grabbing taser

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Grand Rapids police have released videos of the fatal police shooting of 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya, including one that shows the fatal shot.

During a press conference at city hall Wednesday afternoon, April 13, police Chief Eric Winstrom released videos from four different sources of the April 4 fatal police shooting of Lyoya.

Cellphone video taken by a passenger in Lyoya’s car provides the clearest footage of the fatal shooting. The fatal shot, which is graphic, is captured near the 32-second mark. Viewer discretion is strongly advised as it does show the loss of human life.

Winstrom has said the videos, including the one shot by the bystander, are unedited, except for some blurring of images for privacy reasons.

Lyoya was driving on Grand Rapids’ Southeast Side when he was stopped by an officer. Winstrom said the officer observed the vehicle had “improper Michigan registration.”

Lyoya exited his car and eventually struggled with the officer. The pair struggled for a little over two minutes before the officer shot Lyoya.

In the video, the officer can be heard yelling for Lyoya to let go of his Taser. Winstrom said the officer deployed his Taser during the struggle. It was not immediately clear if Lyoya was hit by it.

The officer is on top of Lyoya when he fires his handgun. Winstrom said Lyoya was shot in the head.

Winstrom said that, to his knowledge, the only weapons recovered from the scene were the officer’s gun and Taser.

For more than a week, numerous community members and organizations have called for police to release any and all footage surrounding the shooting so they could see what had happened.