Cop who fatally shot Daunte Wright ‘accidentally’ fired gun instead of Taser, police chief says; mayor calls for cop’s dismissal

The cop who killed a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb Sunday accidentally fired her gun instead of her Taser, police said Monday. The town’s Black mayor called for the officer’s immediate firing as protests broke out for a second night in a row.

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said Officer Kimberly Potter shot Daunte Wright, 20, after Wright was allegedly pulled over for expired registration tags and tried to flee once police discovered there was a warrant for his arrest.

“It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Gannon said at a tense news conference after a night of protests.

“This appears to me, from what I’ve viewed, and the officer’s reaction and distress afterward that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in a tragic death of Mr. Wright,” Gannon said, calling it “far too early” to comment on possible criminal charges.

Potter, 48, is a 26-year veteran of the department, and was first licensed as a police officer in Minnesota in 1995 at age 22, according to state records.

Police body cam video made public Monday shows Potter approaching the car and drawing her weapon at point-blank range.

“I’ll tase you! I’ll tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” she shouts before firing at Wright as a fellow officer tried to take him into custody shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday.

“S--t, I just shot him,” she stammered after Wright managed to drive away before crashing a few blocks later. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Wright was with a female friend when he was shot. His mother, Katie Wright, said she got a call from her son as the deadly encounter unfolded and that he gave a different reason for the stop.

“He said they pulled him over because he had air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror,” she said.

At Monday’s news conference, Gannon said he decided to release a portion of the body cam video in the interest of transparency. He left while Mayor Mike Elliott was taking questions.

Friends and family comfort Katie Wright (right), while she speaks briefly to news media near where the family says her son Daunte Wright, 20, was shot and killed by police Sunday, April 11, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minn. (Jeff Wheeler/)

Elliott, who is Black, called Wright’s death “heartbreaking and unfathomable.”

“Let me be clear, we will get to the bottom of this. We will do all that is within our power to make sure justice is done for Daunte Wright,” Elliott said.

The mayor said he supports Potter’s removal from the force.

“My position is we cannot afford to make mistakes that lead to the loss of life,” Elliott said. “I do fully support releasing the officer of her duties.”

Daunte Wright died after he was shot by an officer during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center on Sunday.

Noting the fatal shooting took place as former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin stands trial for the May 25 death of unarmed Black man George Floyd, Elliott said, “Our hearts are aching right now. We are in pain right now, and we recognize that this couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”

For a second night, crowds gathered outside Brooklyn Center’s police headquarters, ignoring a curfew. The protesters were “launching bottles, fireworks, bricks and other projectiles at public safety officials,” according to a tweet from Operation Safety Net, a local effort to ensure safety of the public during the Chauvin trial.

“They are also trying to shine lasers into officers’ and troopers’ eyes,” the tweet stated.

Reporters at the scene said law enforcement fired tear gas and stun grenades at the demonstrators.

Gannon, who later returned to the news conference, declined to join the mayor in calling for the officer’s termination, saying she has a right to “due process.”

Protesters gather in front of the Brooklyn Center Police station on Sunday, April 11, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minn. (Christian Monterrosa/)

“She has the right to be heard. She has the right to give her statement. She has the right to tell what she felt, what she thought. Not what I thought, not what I saw, but what she thought,” Gannon said, calling her “a very senior officer.”

Following the press conference, Elliott was handed oversight of his city’s police department, the Star Tribune reported. The Brooklyn Center City Council also voted to relieve City Manager Curt Boganey of his duties Monday.

The police shooting, which happened about 12 miles from the spot where Floyd died in police custody, sparked immediate unrest that spread to nearby Minneapolis. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared a state of emergency Monday as President Biden called for a “full-blown investigation” and said his prayers were with Wright’s family.

Grieving mom Katie Wright urged calm, saying she didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.

“All I want is my baby home,” she told reporters. .

Protestors gather in Washington Square Park in New York April 12, during a protest after a suburban Minneapolis police officer fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/)

After Sunday night’s demonstrations, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz instituted another dusk-to-dawn curfew Monday as law enforcement agencies and the Minnesota National Guard turned out in force around the metropolitan area.

With News Wire Services