Killing of Daunte Wright
On April 11, 2021, Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old American man, was fatally shot in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, by police officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop and attempted arrest for an outstanding warrant. After a brief struggle with officers, Potter shot Wright in the chest once at close range. Wright then drove off a short distance until his vehicle collided with another and hit a concrete barrier. An officer administered CPR to Wright; paramedics were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Potter said she meant to use her service Taser, shouting "Taser! Taser! Taser!" just before mistakenly firing her service pistol instead.
The shooting sparked protests in Brooklyn Center and renewed ongoing demonstrations against police shootings in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, leading to citywide and regional curfews. Demonstrations took place over several days, and spread to cities across the United States. Two days after the incident, Potter and Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon resigned from their positions.
Potter was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter at a jury trial in Hennepin County. She received a two-year sentence, of which she served 16 months incarcerated. Wright's family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the City of Brooklyn Center for million. The passenger in Wright's car, who was injured in the collision, settled a civil suit with the city for.
Public outrage over Wright's death, one of several high-profile police killings of black Americans in the early 2020s, helped advance discussion of police reform measures. In Brooklyn Center, the police department changed its policy on arresting people for misdemeanor offenses and city council introduced alternative public safety measures, but several proposed reforms failed to be implemented. In Minnesota and elsewhere in the United States, Wright's death led to changes in Taser procedures and other policing policies.
People involved
Daunte Demetrius Wright was a 20-year-old living in Minneapolis, having moved there from Chicago. He was the son of a black father and a white mother. Wright played basketball in high school, but according to his father, he dropped out due to a learning disability about two years before the shooting. He worked in retail and fast-food jobs to support his almost-two-year-old son, and had enrolled in a vocational school.At the time of the shooting, 48-year-old Kimberly Ann Potter, from Champlin, Minnesota, was a police officer in the Brooklyn Center Police Department, and a mother of two sons. She had worked for the department since 1995, shortly after finishing at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota a year prior in 1994. Potter, a field training officer, was training a new officer at the time of the incident. She had completed annual re-certifications for her weapons with her most recent Taser certification having been completed on March 2, 2021.
Alayna Albrecht-Payton, a 20-year-old resident of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Wright's girlfriend, was sitting in the passenger's seat of the vehicle and was injured in the crash. Two other Brooklyn Center police officers were involved in the traffic stop. One of them was a trainee working with Potter who also participated in the attempted arrest.
Incident
Traffic stop
On April 11, 2021, Wright was driving with Albrecht-Payton in a white 2011 Buick LaCrosse that was registered to his brother. They were on their way to a car wash. Kimberly Potter was a passenger in a patrol car with a trainee officer who observed Wright's vehicle signaling a right turn while it was in a left-turning lane. The trainee officer also noticed that the vehicle had an expired registration tag on its license plate and had an air freshener hanging from the car's rearview mirror, a violation of Minnesota law. At 1:53p.m. local time, the trainee officer initiated a traffic stop of Wright's vehicle on 63rd Avenue North near Orchard Avenue and called for backup.After pulling the vehicle over, the trainee officer approached Wright's vehicle. Wright provided his name but did not have a driver's license or proof-of-insurance card. The trainee officer returned to his squad car. Meanwhile, Wright phoned his mother. Potter's supervisor arrived on the scene, and the officers ran Wright's name through a police database. They learned he had an open arrest warrant for failing to appear in court on a gross misdemeanor weapons violation for carrying a gun without a permit, and that there was a protective order against him by an unnamed woman. The officers decided to arrest Wright and ensure the passenger was not the same woman who had the protective order against him.
Police body camera footage showed Potter, her supervisor, and the trainee officer approaching the car. The trainee officer approached the driver's side door and the supervisor approached the passenger's side door. Potter, who was acting as a field training officer, initially stood back. The trainee officer informed Wright that there was a warrant for his arrest. He opened the driver's side door and Wright stepped out of the car. The car door remained open while Wright put his hands behind his back and the trainee officer attempted to put on handcuffs.
After several moments, Potter approached Wright and the trainee and unsnapped her handgun holster. She grabbed a piece of paper from the trainee with her right hand, then moved it to her left hand. Wright, who was unarmed, began to resist arrest, struggled with the officers, broke free, and stepped back into his car. The supervisor had the passenger's side door open, and reached inside to prevent Wright from putting the car in gear. The trainee officer on the driver's side attempted to prevent Wright from obtaining control of the steering wheel. Potter, who had her Taser holstered on her left side and her gun on her right, said, "I'll tase you," and then at 2:02 p.m. yelled, "Taser! Taser! Taser!" The supervisor released his hands from attempting to restrain Wright. A second later Potter then discharged her firearm, instead of her Taser, a single time using her right hand. The bullet struck Wright in the chest.
Potter's pistol, a Glock 9 mm model, was entirely black, partially made of metal, and weighed when loaded. Her Taser, made of plastic, was mostly yellow, and weighed. Potter was holding her gun for 5.5 seconds before discharging it. Immediately after shooting Wright, she was still holding the piece of paper with her left hand.
As Wright sped off in his vehicle, body camera footage recorded as Potter said to the other officers, "Oh shit, I just shot him." Potter continued, "I grabbed the wrong fucking gun", as she collapsed to the curb and placed her head in her hands. She later added, "I'm going to prison. I just killed a boy."
Car crash
Wright, who had driven off after being shot, traveled for about when his vehicle collided with another near the intersection of 63rd Avenue North and Kathrene Drive. After the crash, one officer approached Wright's vehicle with a gun drawn. Another officer checked Wright's pulse and, after not detecting one, administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation while they awaited the arrival of paramedics. Upon arrival the paramedic crew took over Wright's care, but further attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:18 p.m., 16 minutes after being shot. Albrecht-Payton, the passenger in Wright's vehicle, was transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No one in the other vehicle was injured.Investigations and criminal charges
Brooklyn Center police response
On the morning of April 12, Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon held a press conference and played a clip of the body camera footage. He said Potter intended to use a Taser on Wright, but pulled out and discharged her gun instead. Potter was placed on administrative leave by the Brooklyn Center police pending further investigation.On April 13, Potter and Gannon submitted their resignations to the Brooklyn Center police department, with Potter's letter stating that it was "in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately". The Brooklyn Center City Council had recommended their firing during an emergency meeting on April 12. According to The Independent, Potter fled her home for safety reasons after her address was leaked on social media. Police established a security presence around the house and erected cement barricades and fencing.
State and county investigation
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension launched an investigation into the killing of Wright on April 12, per standard procedure, and released Potter's name as the officer who shot Wright. The Hennepin County medical examiner's office released a report on April 12 that determined the manner of death to be homicide and concluded that Wright had died as the result of a gunshot wound of the chest. In order to avoid conflicts of interest, although the incident took place in Hennepin County, it was reviewed by the Washington County Attorney's Office per an agreement with metropolitan counties to handle officer-involved shootings. Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott called on Governor Tim Walz to reassign the case to the office of the State Attorney General Keith Ellison.Arrest and criminal charges
The Washington County Attorney's Office charged Potter on April 14 with second-degree manslaughter, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 609.205, a felony offense entailing "culpable negligence creating unreasonable risk" that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years incarceration and/or a $20,000 fine. The criminal complaint against Potter stated that she caused Wright's death "by her culpable negligence," whereby she "created an unreasonable risk and consciously took a chance of causing death or great bodily harm" to Wright.After her indictment, Potter was arrested, booked into a Hennepin County jail and released a few hours later after posting a $100,000 bail bond. Potter briefly made her first court appearance via Zoom on April 15 before Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu. Potter was represented by Earl Gray, a Saint Paul-based attorney who also defended Thomas Lane and Jeronimo Yanez, who were involved with the murder of George Floyd and killing of Philando Castile, respectively.
After making a charging decision, the Washington County Attorney's Office returned the case to Hennepin County. State Attorney General Ellison's office, at the request of Hennepin County Attorney Michael O. Freeman, agreed to take over prosecution of the case. Ellison's office on September 2 added the charge of first-degree manslaughter, predicated on reckless use/handling of a firearm, a more serious charge than second-degree manslaughter and carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.