Minnesota cop will be charged with manslaughter in shooting of Daunte Wright

A Minnesota police officer who fatally shot a man during a traffic stop will be charged with second-degree manslaughter, a prosecutor said Wednesday.<br><br>Washington County Attorney Pete Orput made the announcement Wednesday afternoon in connection with Sunday's shooting death of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center.<br><br>The announcement came shortly after the resignations of Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon and Officer Kim Potter, the 26-year veteran who fired the fatal shot.<br><br>"I believe the county attorney's office did not do their due diligence in this case and I do not believe the behavior of the Brooklyn Center Police Department constitutes a defense," said Earl Gray, Potter's attorney.<br><br>Orput said that he intended to present charges to a grand jury in the case, but had not yet done so.<br><br>Wright, 20, died Sunday after a struggle with police during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb. Gannon said he believed Potter mistakenly reached for her gun instead of her Taser when she fired the shot that killed Wright.<br><br>Ben Crump, an attorney for Wright's family, said Potter should also face murder charges.<br><br>Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said he appreciated Potter's decision to resign. "Her action will go a long way in healing the community," he said.<br><br>"I appreciate the community's patience," said Elliott. "This is the needed step to healing."<br><br>Gannon had described the shooting as "an accidental discharge."<br><br>Potter and Gannon resigned Tuesday along with Elliott, who lost the support of the city council when he failed to fire Potter on Monday.<br><br>"I appreciate (Potter's) decision and thank her for it," said Elliott.<br><br>Elliott said that Law Enforcement Labor Services, the union that represented Potter and other Brooklyn Center police, was working hard to provide Potter with a retirement plan and had been in talks with city officials.<br><br>"It has been my pleasure and honor to serve this great city," wrote Potter in her resignation letter.<br><br>Some activists who wanted Potter fired had been calling for Elliott's resignation after he failed to take more aggressive action against Potter on Monday.<br><br>"We are pleased that (Potter) has begun to be held accountable," tweeted the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls. "Resignation is the least that could be done."<br><br>Gannon's resignation followed a city council vote of no-confidence in him and Elliott.<br><br>Potter was field training officer on Sunday when she and another officer pulled over Wright because his car had expired tags and because an air freshener was obstructing the view of the windshield, Gannon said.<br><br>When the two officers went to arrest Wright for an outstanding warrant, the three struggled and Potter reached for her Taser but mistakenly fired her sidearm instead, Gannon said.<br><br>Wright then fled the scene. Gannon said that Potter can be heard on bodycam video shouting "Taser, Taser, Taser" before firing.<br><br>Wright died shortly after arrival at a nearby hospital.<br><br>The killing of Wright came on the fourth day in the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis, which is about 10 miles south of Brooklyn Center.<br><br>Wright's death has sparked waves of protests that have spilled over into nearby Minneapolis.<br><br>The Brooklyn Center city council passed a resolution Tuesday to fire Potter and Gannon but Elliott blocked the move.<br><br>"I want to say thank you to Kim Potter and Tim Gannon for your years of service," said Elliott. "However, the city has lost trust in your ability to continue to serve us."<br><br>Gannon had said he wanted Potter to be "judged on the totality of the circumstances" and that she deserved "due process."<br><br>"I want to thank her for her many years of service and wish her the best in her future endeavors," he said.<br><br>Potter had been placed on administrative leave following the shooting, which is under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.<br><br>In 2019, Potter was the police union president and negotiated a $500,000 separation agreement for a Brooklyn Center police chief after he was fired for screaming "fuck you fuck" at a city council member.<br><br>Potter was also one of the first police to arrive on the scene after Wright's body had been taken away in an ambulance.<br><br>Two police were injured and stores were vandalized in Brooklyn Center during waves of protests that followed the shooting.<br><br>On Monday, a nearby YMCA was converted into a "safe space" that offered counseling and other services for children who were traumatized by the shooting.<br><br>Some have pointed out that Taser is a brand name and that other manufacturers make similar devices.<br><br>"I've been in law enforcement 35 years," said Gannon. "And in both human силу and training situations I've never know of anyone to be shot with a Taser that resulted in their death."<br><br>In a statement, Taser's parent company, Axon, said that it was "not aware" of any death from the firing of one of its Tasers.<br><br>Axon recommended that police wear their Tasers on their non-dominant side but that it was "not uncommon for officers to continue to carry their Taser on their dominant side."<br><br>The Brooklyn Center Police Department has a policy requiring police to carry Tasers on their non-dominant side but Gannon said that the department did not enforce the policy.<br><br>"We've had many instances where a gun and a Taser were used by the same person and in most situations one was on the left and one was on the right," said Gannon. "Yet they performed their jobs flawlessly."<br><br>Gannon did not provide any examples of such instances.<br><br>Wright had an outstanding warrant for first-degree aggravated assault in connection with an incident in which a woman was allegedly shot at and injured.<br><br>Wright attended the former high school that Gannon's son attended. He said that he was never "able to connect the dots" between Wright and the school.<br><br>The two other police involved in the shooting – Arik Matson and Anthony Luckey – will not face disciplinary action, said Gannon.<br><br>Luckey was the first to arrive on the scene. Wright attempted to flee in his car but Luckey placed Wright in a "half Nelson" to hold him in place, Gannon said.<br><br>Matson and Potter then arrived and began to handcuff Wright, who freed himself and struggled against all three, Gannon said.<br><br>Potter then fired her Taser but it only struck Wright in the passenger side, Gannon said.<br><br>Potter then fired her gun, which struck Wright in the chest, Gannon said.<br><br>Wright then fled the scene in his car. About 10 blocks later, Wright's car crashed into an oncoming car that had a mother and child on board, Gannon said.<br><br>The mother and child suffered minor injuries, Gannon said.<br><br>Wright then fled the car on foot but collapsed about 100 yards away, Gannon said.<br><br>Police attempted to perform CPR on Wright, who was pronounced dead at the hospital.<br><br>Gannon said that Wright's car may have crashed because he was bleeding to death but that it was "impossible to know" for sure.<br><br>Luckey performed CPR on Wright until the ambulance arrived, Gannon said.<br><br>Gannon said he did not know whether Wright was actually holding his firearm when police struggled with him during the traffic stop but that in the end Wright "was never in possession of a firearm."<br><br>Wright's mother, Katie Wright, said that Daunte called her immediately after being pulled over.<br><br>He asked how to explain to police that the insurance card in his vehicle was for his new car, not the one he was driving, his mother said.<br><br>She said he handed the phone over to one of the officers who explained that Wright had expired tags and that "something" was hanging from his rearview mirror.<br><br>His mother said that when Wright got back on the line, he told her that one of the officers said he was under arrest.<br><br>"I didn't do anything," he told his mother.<br><br>"I said 'what are they arresting you for?" his mother said.<br><br>"I don't know," Wright said.<br><br>His mother said that Wright was "very smart" but that he had ".getID" He said that Wright had been expelled from three high schools in one year.<br><br>"I wanted him to go to college and I wanted him to be better," she said. "He was doing better."<br><br>"He's a third-generation entrepreneur," his mother said. "He was doing very well for himself."<br><br>"We used to play board games all the time," said his mother. "He was always on the winning side."<br><br>Wright's mother said she was "devastated" over his death.<br><br>"I just want everybody to say his name," said Wright's mother. "Daunte Wright."<br><br>Court records show that Wright had multiple run-ins with police prior to Sunday's shooting.<br><br>Besides the outstanding warrant for aggravated assault, Wright was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in a 2019 case.<br><br>He had also been charged with disorderly conduct after a 911 caller in 2019 reported that two men were "pointing guns" at people.<br><br>The two then fled into an apartment but police in the suburb of Osseo were able to track them down and charge Wright, who was 19 at the time.<br><br>Wright had also been charged with petty misdemeanors for disorderly conduct, marijuana paraphernalia possession, driving without a license and failing to produce insurance when requested by police.<br><br>Court records show that Wright had pleaded guilty to petty misdemeanor marijuana possession in 2020 after being stopped by police in Minneapolis for an expired registration in a parking lot.<br><br>He was fined $200 and given a 30-day sentence but the term was stayed as long as he worked 80 hours of community service and remained law abiding until 2023.<br><br>Wright then failed to report for the community service and a warrant was issued for his arrest, which remained outstanding until Sunday.<br><br>Court records also show that Wright worked as a janitor in the Minneapolis school district.