GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — All week long, Peter Mashingo Lyoya has been anxious and hurting, he said. On Monday morning, April 4, his 26-year-old son Patrick died due to an officer-involved shooting.
Wednesday, Lyoya along with his interpreter Israel Siku saw the dashcam video of his death.
“Right now, I’m bleeding,” Lyoya said. “I’m hurt.”
Friday, Lyoya who is Congolese and speaks Swahili, met with FOX 17 for an interview. Siku sat next to him and translated for him. He is the interpreter for the Congolese community in West Michigan and is also a native of the country.
Lyoya said he wants the video to be released to the public, and to see his son’s body.
“I asked for them to show me where my son is being laid,” Lyoya said through Siku. “And, until now, I haven’t seen the body of my son. What I want right now is to see the body of my son.”
According to the Grand Rapids Police Department, Patrick was pulled over near the intersection of Nelson and Griggs on Monday morning. They said that when he got out of the car, he began to run away. A lengthy struggle ensued before he was shot and killed.
Siku said the family disputes this account.
“To see that the police officer hold my son and kill him like an animal,” Lyoya said. “When he got my son he put him on the ground and his hand was behind his back. From that moment he took the gun and he shoot him in the back of the head.”
Siku, who also saw the video, corroborated his account. FOX 17 has not seen the video.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom says the video will be released no later than noon on Friday, April 15.
Lyoya heard about the demonstrations and protests planned for this weekend and early next week. He said he does not want any violence or chaos to happen, and he hopes the officer involved is prosecuted soon.
He asked for peace as his family and the Congolese community pursue justice for his son.
“I cannot wish another parent like me, White or Black, to go through the situation I went through to lose my son,” Lyoya said. “And I want the entire world to know and to see the way that my son was killed and why he was killed.”
