Former Cop Charged for Patrick Lyoya’s Execution-Style Shooting Claims Qualified Immunity In Civil Case; City Says Shooting ‘Objectively Reasonable’
Lawyers representing the former Grand Rapids, Michigan, police officer who fatally shot a Black motorist in the back of the head in 2022 are asking for a federal wrongful death lawsuit to be dismissed.
The attorneys seeking to have the complaint dismissed claim the family cannot sufficiently prove that the young man’s constitutional rights were violated and that their client is protected by qualified immunity.
On Monday, Feb. 6, representation for Christopher Schurr filed a motion in a federal court to dismiss the civil complaint launched by Patrick Lyoya’s family, according to WOOD 8.
As a result of the deadly police-involved shooting, which critics say was done execution-style, Schurr was fired and charged with second-degree murder in Lyoya’s death.
The deceased’s relatives believe Lyoya’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated on April 4, 2022, when he was pulled over, assaulted, and shot by the ex-cop. The civil suit is asking for $100 million in damages. Schurr’s shooting of the victim was “objectively unreasonable,” the suit contends.
The family members, represented by civil rights attorneys Ven Johnson and Benjamin Crump, believe the charges are evidence that Schurr used unreasonable force and gross negligence, breaching his civil servant duties when he failed to make a lawful traffic stop and did not attempt to deescalate the incident, according to Fox 17.
Crump and Johnson said Schurr was wrong to not wait for backup before acting against Lyoya, failed to create adequate space between him and the suspect before shooting his Taser probe, and that he never warned Lyoya of his intent to stun or shoot him as the two men were tussling on the ground after Lyoya ran away from the scene of the stop.
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