On April 4, 2022, Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, was fatally shot by Officer Christopher Schurr of the Grand Rapids Police Department during a scuffle between the two. After Lyoya began to flee the scene, Schurr attempted to detain him, and unsuccessfully fired a taser at Lyoya. Lyoya attempted to disarm Officer Schurr of the weapon and was successful in disarming him. Officer Schurr then discharged one round from his firearm into the back of Lyoya’s head.

As news of the shooting and videos of the incident were released, public protests occurred to denounce the officer's actions, to demand the reform of the GRPD, and for the recusal of the prosecutor handling the case due to alleged conflicts of interest. Per protocol, investigations of the shooting were performed by a non-involved entity, with the Michigan State Police assuming responsibility. On June 9, 2022, Schurr was charged with second-degree murder, alleging that the death was intentional and not justified as self-defense, facing up to life in prison with the possibility of parole if convicted. Schurr's trial began on April 28, 2025. On May 8, the presiding judge declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict following four days of deliberations. On May 22, Kent County prosecutor Chris Becker announced that he would not retry Schurr.

Patrick Lyoya, an ethnic Fuliru, was a refugee from the Bafuliiru Chiefdom of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a nation experiencing unrest fueled by repeated foreign intervention since the overthrow and execution of Patrice Lumumba, which was organized by Belgium and the Central Intelligence Agency, that led to the Congo Crisis and subsequent conflicts. According to Lyoya's family, they fled eastern Congo after experiencing years of violence in the Kivu conflict. Lyoya's parents sold beer and clothing for money; his mother was once raped by rebels on her way home. The Lyoya family moved to Malawi in 2003 and Lyoya spent half of his life living in a bamboo house at a refugee camp. In 2014, the family received asylum in the United States, with Tanzanian scholar Godfrey Mwakikagile writing "Ironically, Lyoya and his family fled the region and sought refuge in the very same country that has played a major role in the disruption ... in eastern Congo". Lyoya often assisted fellow refugees who were establishing themselves in the Grand Rapids area. While in the United States Lyoya had a difficult time establishing himself; he did not yet speak the English language proficiently, he switched homes frequently, and he changed blue-collar jobs multiple times. He had also been arrested for drunk driving several times and was ordered to be assessed for substance use disorder, with Lyoya telling his friends that he was trying to improve his life. He had two children and had been living in Grand Rapids for about five years prior to the incident.

The officer identified as shooting Lyoya is Christopher Schurr, who received a criminal justice degree from Siena Heights University in May 2014. According to The New York Times, former teammates from Schurr's college track team recounted that he was strict with rules and was easily angered, with some peers questioning whether such a temper would be suitable for a career in law enforcement. Schurr also participated in Christian missionary trips in Africa. Joining the GRPD in 2015, Schurr received multiple commendations by police department leaders due to his chasing of individuals on foot. A 2017 review of his performance resulted with multiple officers praising Schurr's actions. Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom initially did not identify Schurr saying that the department would only release the officer's identity if criminal charges are filed, resulting with protests demanding the release of the officer's name. Schurr, per protocol, was placed on paid administrative leave and his police powers were suspended pending an investigation by the Michigan State Police. The name of the officer involved in the shooting was shared on April 25 by Chief Winstrom, who stated "In the interest of transparency, to reduce on-going speculation, and to avoid any further confusion, I am confirming the name already publicly circulating – Christopher Schurr – as the officer involved in the April 4 Officer-Involved Shooting. Beginning this week, as required by law, the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) will be releasing documents in response to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act relative to this incident."

Police killings in Michigan had been occurring at an increasing rate in the years leading to the shooting and proposed legislation to reform policing practices were never enacted. At the same time, the Grand Rapids Police Department had faced criticism nationally for alleged police brutality prior to the incident and for incidents of officers drawing guns on people of color. In 2017, city data showed that black individuals were pulled over twice as much as non-black individuals. Since 2017, groups and civil rights activists had already been raising concerns about police brutality in Grand Rapids and called for better initiatives to bring better community relations between citizens and the police. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights received dozens of complaints regarding GRPD and calls to investigate possible racial discrimination used by the police department prior to the shooting. Investigations by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights began in 2019, though the department put investigations on hold citing a lack of resources and staff.

According to MLive, controversial incidents involving GRPD officers and people of color continued, with the news outlet listing events where a 12-year-old black girl was handcuffed, two Latinos boys were approached at gunpoint and handcuffed for walking in the road and in September 2021 a black man was accidentally arrested at gunpoint preparing for the wake of his mother-in-law after matching the description of the suspect. The Hill wrote "the Grand Rapids Police Department has been involved with several other incidents involving alleged excessive use of force", detailing a 2021 event where a black 26-year-old man was punched repeatedly in the head by a GRPD officer during an alleged littering incident.

Following the incident, The New York Times reported:

Mr. Lyoya’s death was the latest in a series of incidents that have strained relations between residents and the Grand Rapids police. In 2017, officers searching for a middle-aged woman wanted for a stabbing instead handcuffed an 11-year-old girl at gunpoint while she was leaving a house. Those officers were not disciplined. Months prior, other Grand Rapids officers held five innocent teenagers at gunpoint. And in 2020, local outlets reported, an officer was suspended for two days after shooting a protester in the face with a gas canister.