“The Real Housewives of Orange County” alum Lydia McLaughlin shared a tribute to her brother amid his funeral and the release of bodycam footage from the traffic stop in April where he was fatally shot by police.
McLaughlin’s brother Geoffrey Shyam Stirling was shot and killed by police in California on April 17 around 9:15 p.m. after they pulled over the motorcycle he was riding, the Newport Beach Police Department later wrote on Instagram. He was 45.
McLaughlin shared photos of her brother and video footage from his funeral in an emotional Instagram post on May 5.
“Yesterday, we laid my brother to rest,” she wrote. “Just six months ago, we stood in this same place, grieving the loss of my mom. My heart is broken, and the shock still hasn’t settled. 💔 But even in the sorrow, I cling to what I know is true: God is good. He is in control. I am not. My brother is now with my mom, and I hold onto the promise that one day, we’ll all be reunited. Until then, I will miss them every single day.”
McLaughlin’s tribute came days before the Newport Beach Police Department released bodycam footage of the incident.
The department said in the Instagram post in April that after Stirling was stopped for a traffic violation, he “became uncooperative and assaulted the officer. During the ensuing violent altercation, Stirling managed to remove the department-issued taser from the officer’s duty belt and attempted to deploy it multiple times against the officer. At that point, an officer-involved shooting occurred.”
In the footage released on May 7, a motorcycle rider is shown being pulled over after police say he ran a red light on West Coast Highway.
The video shows an officer repeatedly asking Stirling to sit down on the curb, and Stirling refuses. The officer also notes that Stirling has urinated in his pants.
Stirling is then seen making a move toward the officer, which results in an altercation between the two. A freeze-frame of the video is highlighted with a moment where police say Stirling has the officer’s Taser and is holding it to the officer’s head.
The officer pulls free and yells “Drop it!” at Stirling before firing his weapon six times. Stirling is shown dropping to the ground.
Additional officers and the Newport Beach Fire Department then arrived at the scene, according to authorities. Stirling was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The California Department of Justice is now conducting an investigation into the shooting, according to Newport Beach Police Department Chief Dave Miner.
McLaughlin shared her grief over her brother’s loss in an Instagram post on April 19, two days after his death.
“My family has experienced an unimaginable loss,” she wrote. “My brother, Geoff, was tragically taken and our hearts are shattered.”
“I can’t believe we’re facing this pain just 6 months after losing my best friend and mother,” she added. “I know they’re both with Jesus now, and He’s walking with me through this darkness. One step at a time.”
