GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Christopher Schurr took the stand on Friday, testifying in his own defense in his second-degree murder trial in the death of Patrick Lyoya.
A former Grand Rapids police officer, Schurr shot Lyoya in the back of the head as the two struggled over his taser during a traffic stop in April 2022.
Schurr, who was visibly emotional as both the prosecution and defense played body and dash camera video from the shooting, said he took Lyoya's life in self-defense.
"If I didn't do what I did when I did it, I wouldn't be here today," said Schurr, claiming he feared for his own life when he saw Lyoya take "full control" of his taser.
Notably, Schurr said he did not notice both of the taser's cartridges had already been fired when he made the decision to draw his firearm and fire the fatal shot.
"I felt I could hardly pick up my legs," Schurr said. "I've never been that exhausted."
In total, the defendant spent nearly three hours in the witness box and said he testified to "get my story out."
Direct examination
During his direct examination, defense attorney Mark Dodge asked questions about Schurr's past and the officer's performance during the deadly traffic stop.
"Why did you pick police work?" Dodge asked.
"I got to help people," said Schurr, who graduated from Lansing Community College's police academy before he was hired by the Grand Rapids Police Department to work as an officer.
Schurr said he also took part in the department's eight-week, in-house training program.
As part of his training, Schurr said he was voluntarily tased.
"It's extremely excruciating," Schurr said. "Painful."
Dodge then turned to discussion of the drive stun, a term that refers to when an officer presses their taser up against a person as a form of pain compliance. A drive stun can also be used to "close the loop" with already-fired taser probe(s) to achieve neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI), according to prior testimony.
As Schurr and Lyoya struggled over Schurr's taser during the traffic stop, both of the weapon's cartridges were fired, according to testimony, meaning the weapon could only be used in a drive stun.
Continuing his testimony, Schurr said GRPD trains its officers to use the drive stun to achieve NMI.
"Every time," he said, adding he had previously apprehended a suspect by successfully performing a drive stun to achieve NMI.
In the trial of Christopher Schurr, supporters of the former GRPD officer gather outside 17th Circuit Court in Grand Rapids.
— sam landstra (@samlandstra) May 2, 2025
In 2022, Schurr fatally shot Patrick Lyoya, a black man, in the back of the head during a traffic stop. The two had been struggling over Schurr’s taser. pic.twitter.com/Umv2D4ZCOh
Dodge then turned to discussion on the traffic stop.
On that rainy, Monday morning, Schurr said he noticed Lyoya's car was driving "slowly" and had made an "abrupt right turn."
At that point, Schurr said he ran the car's license plate and found it did not match the car's registration.
Schurr then initiated a traffic stop, he said.
Regarding the moment Lyoya began to run away from Schurr after failing to produce his driver's license, Dodge asked if a driver can "just walk away from a police officer in this situation."
"No," Schurr said. "My experience is that when people run, it's typically associated with a felony offense."
Continuing, the former officer said no GRPD policy at the time prohibited officers from engaging in a foot chase with a suspect.
According to testimony, Schurr had previously been involved in about "30 or 40" solo foot pursuits.
Dodge then played body camera video from the shooting, which showed Schurr attempting to arrest Lyoya as the two struggled on the ground.
"Were you trying to injure him?" Dodge asked. "Were you mad or upset at this driver?"
Schurr said no, appearing to wipe away tears from his eyes as he watched the video.
"I'm completely exhausted at this point." he said. 'To me, what made the most sense with my level of exhaustion and the lack of effect with those [knee] strikes, I felt as though I needed to move to a taser."
Upon deploying his taser, Schurr said Lyoya grabbed it.
"Disarming a police officer, would that be a pretty serious scenario?" Dodge asked.
"Yes," said Schurr, claiming his training taught him that, in such situations, the suspect intends to use their weapon against them.
As the struggle continued, the former officer said Lyoya had "full control" of the taser.
Notably, Schurr claimed he did not notice the taser's second cartridge had been discharged, meaning it could only be used in a drive stun.
"[At] some point, I start to feel him turning toward me. I feared he was going to use it on me," said Schurr, adding Lyoya was close enough to drive stun him.
"What did you do next?" Dodge asked.
"I shot him," Schurr said.
"Why?" Dodge asked.
"I believed that, if I hadn't done it at that time, I wasn't going to go home," Schurr said.
Dodge then played body camera footage from after Schurr fired the fatal shot.
"I've never been that exhausted," Schurr said.
"Did you want to shoot Patrick Lyoya when you took on this traffic stop?" Dodge asked.
"No," Schurr said.
"Did you have any prior bad blood with Patrick Lyoya?" Dodge asked.
"No," Schurr said.
"Did you plead with Mr. Lyoya to drop your weapon?" Dodge asked.
"I did," Schurr said.
Concluding his direct examination, Dodge asked why Schurr chose to fire his gun despite never before firing it during "hundreds of other occasions" with a potential threat.
"I believe that if I didn't do what I did when I did it, I wouldn't be here today," Schurr said.
Cross-examination
During his cross-examination, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker repeatedly returned to a written statement that Schurr provided to Michigan State Police as part of the agency's investigation into the shooting.
Becker asked why Schurr did not testify that Lyoya "ran away" from him, despite specifically saying so in his statement.
"He was trying to get away from you," Becker said.
"Up until the end," Schurr said.
"When you were on top of him, right?" Becker asked.
"I was on top and he was trying to push himself up, yes," Schurr said.
"You thought he was going to turn the taser on you," Becker said.
"That's what I believed," said Schurr, adding he believed the taser could cause death.
Becker then asked if Schurr knew of any GRPD officers who had been seriously injured or killed by a taser, including during training exercises.
"Not that I'm aware," Schurr said.
In another reference to Schurr's written statement, Becker asked why the former officer agreed during testimony that Lyoya "assaulted" him, despite never saying so in the statement.
Becker then provided Schurr a copy of the statement to read aloud.
"Let's take a look at what you wrote," Becker said.
"Moved it away from..." said Schurr, stopping before completing the sentence.
"Continue on," Becker said.
"He grabbed the body of the taser and moved it away from..." Schurr said, again trailing off.
"So he would not be struck with either of the probes," said Becker, finishing the former officer's sentence. "That's what you wrote. You wrote that back then and you didn't even read it when I showed it to you. Why are you leaving that out?"
Becker also called into question Schurr's decision to engage in a foot chase with Lyoya as prior testimony from experts on police use of force claimed the officer put himself at risk when he pursued Lyoya, disregarding a passenger in the car.
"You're not prevented from disengaging if it's tactically advantaged, right?" Becker asked.
"We're trained to stay engaged," Schurr said. "But yes, depending on the circumstances, you may need to disengage."
Regarding Schurr's firing of the fatal shot, the prosecutor said the officer could not "even say Patrick pointed the taser" at him.
"I felt as though he was turning towards me with it" Schurr said. "But, yeah, he didn't actually."
Concluding his cross-examination, Becker returned to Schurr's written statement a final time.
"When you wrote this," Becker said. "You thought you were going to be incapacitated [by the taser], and then [Lyoya] was going to grab your gun, right?"
Schurr said "both" the taser and the gun were his concern.
"[Lyoya] never put his hand on your gun," Becker said. "He never touched your gun."
Schurr said he felt he had to shoot Lyoya because he "believed" the latter was going to use the taser against him.
"I felt if I didn't respond in that at that time, I wouldn't be here," Schurr said.
"Lyoya's not here, is he?" Becker asked.
"No, he's not," Schurr said.
Shooting death of Patrick Lyoya
SCHURR TRIAL, DAY FIVE: Christopher Schurr takes the stand in murder trial
For FOX 17's previous coverage of the trial of Christopher Schurr and the death of Patrick Lyoya, click here.