Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter Resigns

BROOKLYN CENTER, MN — Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter resigned Tuesday after spending 26 years with the department. Potter was identified by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension as the officer who fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop Sunday.

"I am tendering my resignation from the Brooklyn Center Police Department effective immediately," Potter wrote.

"I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately."

Police Chief Tim Gannon also resigned, Mayor Mike Elliot announced Tuesday.

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Asked why Potter was allowed to resign, instead of being fired, Elliot said "We were going through our own processes to make sure that internally we had all of the documentation in order to be able to do that."

Tony Gruenig, who has been with the department for 19 years, was appointed to replace Gannon as police chief.

"I don't have a plan," Gruenig said when asked about reforming his department. "I was appointed chief an hour ago."

Gruenig said he will seek input from community members.

Elliot has called on Gov. Tim Walz to move the investigation into Potter from Washington County — where it was referred to by Hennepin County to avoid conflicts of interest — to the office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. "It needs to happen," Elliot said.

In body camera footage from the shooting that was released Monday morning, three officers are seen struggling with Wright as he tries to get back into his car.

In the video, which readers should be warned is extremely graphic, Potter yells "taser!" "taser!" before she is heard yelling "I shot him!" Potter meant to draw and shoot her Taser but instead fired a round into Wright, according to Gannon.

"This was an accidental discharge," he said during a news conference Monday. No gun was found on Wright or in his car, Gannon noted.

The shooting happened as the region was already on edge over the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.

On Monday, hundreds of protesters gathered hours after a dusk-to-dawn curfew was announced by the governor. When protesters wouldn't disperse, police began firing gas canisters and flash-bang grenades, sending clouds wafting over the crowd and chasing some protesters away. Forty people were arrested, Minnesota State Patrol Col. Matt Langer said at a news conference early Tuesday. In Minneapolis, 13 arrests were made, including for burglaries and curfew violations, police said.

This is a breaking news story. Patch will update this article as more information becomes available.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.