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Fatal Shooting by Police in Grand Rapids

gohawks50

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Dec 28, 2010
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The confrontation occurred at 8:11 a.m. April 4 near the intersection of Griggs and Nelson on the southeast side of the city.

In the released video, the officer tells Lyoya he was pulled over because his license plate didn't match his vehicle. Lyoya was driving the vehicle and had a male passenger in the car.

During the stop, the video shows Lyoya exiting the vehicle before the officer approaches. The officer instructs him to get back into the car, asks for his license and if he speaks English, to which Lyoya replies yes. The family's native language is Swahili, said Israel Siku, an interpreter for the family.

The officer tells Lyoya the car isn't registered as Lyoya appears confused and dismissive. The officer asks for his driver's license.

Lyoya tells the officer his license is in the car, and he stands at the vehicle with the door open for nearly 30 seconds before closing the door. The officer shouts, "nope, nope" and tries to get Lyoya on the hood of the car the man was driving.

That's when the conflict begins, and Lyoya breaks free, runs around the car and into a nearby yard. The officer calls for backup, stating, "the individual is running," and a struggle ensues again in the front yard of a home adjacent to where Lyoya was pulled over.

As the officer continues to be unable to restrain Lyoya, he draws a stun gun.

At one point, Lyoya pushes the officer's stun gun toward the ground, and the officer's body camera deactivates. Other video shows the two wrestling until the officer, while on top of Lyoya, draws his weapon and fires into the back of Lyoya's head.

 
wow, the optics are absolutely awful. i understand the predicament the officer was in but shooting a guy in the back of the head when he is lying face down is terrible.
He wasn't lying face down. He was on his haunches and resisting. I agree it's terrible optics, but we have to be honest.
 
It’s hard to say the Officer was wrong here. The perp showed a lot of stupid here. I guess Ron White was wrong...a bullet in the back of the head DOES fix stupid. Back in the day, they used to teach officers how to secure their weapon...but thT was probably just a stupid “boomer” idea...and where was the officer’s back-up? I was taught to keep your ass safe until the cavalry arrives. These “one on one” confrontations and detainings just are never a good thing. Doesn’t excuse the perp, but shows poor officer training. There appeared to be nothing there that was emergent, needing immediate attention. Now you have one dead guy and more friction in race relations and a cop how will be thinking “ maybe I should have done this...”
 
JFC. Here we go again. Same people, same sides. It’s really very simple and all of us know it, but some refuse to accept it because, ya know, politics. And you know damn well this video will only be viewed through political colored lenses.

1. It’s the law to properly register your vehicle. If you do not, you already know you are at risk of being pulled over.
2. When pulled over by LEO, you do not get out of the vehicle unless instructed to do so.
3. Don’t run from LEO.
4. Don’t fight with LEO once you’ve been caught.
5. Never reach for or fight to obtain the LEO’s weapon.

If you do not like rules 1-5, you do not agree with the established rules we have established to live in a free, safe society. You will always be at risk.
 
At some point actions are actually going to have to back words.


We need to support our police. You can't just expect good people to get the shit kicked out of them and always be in the wrong when they are trying to do an incredibly difficult job to not find other employment. This case should be an example of the need to listen to a LEO.
 
JFC. Here we go again. Same people, same sides. It’s really very simple and all of us know it, but some refuse to accept it because, ya know, politics. And you know damn well this video will only be viewed through political colored lenses.

1. It’s the law to properly register your vehicle. If you do not, you already know you are at risk of being pulled over.
2. When pulled over by LEO, you do not get out of the vehicle unless instructed to do so.
3. Don’t run from LEO.
4. Don’t fight with LEO once you’ve been caught.
5. Never reach for or fight to obtain the LEO’s weapon.

If you do not like rules 1-5, you do not agree with the established rules we have established to live in a free, safe society. You will always be at risk.

Some at more risk than others.
 
He wasn't lying face down. He was on his haunches and resisting. I agree it's terrible optics, but we have to be honest.

this is semantics but yeah he wasn’t flat on his stomach. his face was shoved into the ground about a second before the shot though. either way it is a sad situation but i don’t think we have enough information to make our mind up on anything other than this being a sad situation.
 
this is semantics but yeah he wasn’t flat on his stomach. his face was shoved into the ground about a second before the shot though. either way it is a sad situation but i don’t think we have enough information to make our mind up on anything other than this being a sad situation.
Do you have enough Information to know the perp resisted arrest?
 
It’s hard to say the Officer was wrong here. The perp showed a lot of stupid here. I guess Ron White was wrong...a bullet in the back of the head DOES fix stupid. Back in the day, they used to teach officers how to secure their weapon...but thT was probably just a stupid “boomer” idea...and where was the officer’s back-up? I was taught to keep your ass safe until the cavalry arrives. These “one on one” confrontations and detainings just are never a good thing. Doesn’t excuse the perp, but shows poor officer training. There appeared to be nothing there that was emergent, needing immediate attention. Now you have one dead guy and more friction in race relations and a cop how will be thinking “ maybe I should have done this...”
Joe you are a medical and police expert? Where did you do your police training?
 
Joe you are a medical and police expert? Where did you do your police training?
O not just that my friend. He also is fluent in the diversity and demographics of one of the fastest growing suburbs in the nation over a two decade span, more so than someone who lived there, because he played golf with a guy in the school board!
 
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this is semantics but yeah he wasn’t flat on his stomach. his face was shoved into the ground about a second before the shot though. either way it is a sad situation but i don’t think we have enough information to make our mind up on anything other than this being a sad situation.
Indeed. It is semantics, but "lying face down" implies he was under control of the officer which is clearly not the case. Other than that I agree 100% this is a very sad situation. Unfortunately our country as a whole is not capable of reasonable thought like you and me here and I have a feeling this is going to be another bad one.
 
Indeed. It is semantics, but "lying face down" implies he was under control of the officer which is clearly not the case. Other than that I agree 100% this is a very sad situation. Unfortunately our country as a whole is not capable of reasonable thought like you and me here and I have a feeling this is going to be another bad one.

hope not
 
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Unfortunately this situation spiraled out of control and the LEO was in a no win situation and should not be found to be in the wrong.

My issue and has been for most of the situations talked about on HROT is the escalation of events compared to the issue of the initial stop. For example in this situation does chasing after the guy running away warrant the possible outcome that happened here? I mean sure this guy might be a real bad guy or have warrants out, but one officer possibly putting his life in danger worth it especially in the current situation where the suspect if taken into custody will more than likely be released on bail within the end of the day?

Let me repeat, in this situation I believe the cop did what he had to do to protect himself.
 
Do you have enough information to know if the perp should have been shot in the back of his head?
That's fair. There is going to need to be a full review to completely clear this guy. On face value I believe I see:

O cop who has attempted several times to de-escalate. Including clarifying the perp was able to understand him.

A cop who first went to a non lethal weapon

A perp who wrestled the non lethal away from the cop.
 
Unfortunately this situation spiraled out of control and the LEO was in a no win situation and should not be found to be in the wrong.

My issue and has been for most of the situations talked about on HROT is the escalation of events compared to the issue of the initial stop. For example in this situation does chasing after the guy running away warrant the possible outcome that happened here? I mean sure this guy might be a real bad guy or have warrants out, but one officer possibly putting his life in danger worth it especially in the current situation where the suspect if taken into custody will more than likely be released on bail within the end of the day?

Let me repeat, in this situation I believe the cop did what he had to do to protect himself.
These are fair points. My concern would be, if allowing fleeing suspects to simply run away would lead to suspects always trying to flee. Idk if our society wants police officers to just let people go.
 
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