Officer Mistook Firearm For A Taser In Fatal MN Shooting: Chief

BROOKLYN CENTER, MN — The Brooklyn Center police officer who fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright Sunday during a traffic stop did so accidentally, Chief Tim Gannon said Monday.

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, one of the officers yells "taser!" "taser!" before yelling "I shot him!" The officer 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 the news conference. No gun was found on Wright or in his car, Gannon noted.

"I've asked the BCA to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting and death," the chief said. The officer who shot Wright, who has not yet been identified, was placed on administrative leave.

Gannon asked the community to be "patient" while the case is investigated. The shooting comes to a region already anxious as the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer who had his knee on George Floyd's neck during an arrest last summer, is underway.

No one from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was at Monday's news conference. The agency does not condone releasing body camera footage this early into an investigation, Gannon said.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Floyd's family, announced he will represent Wright's family as well.

"Daunte Wright is yet another young Black man killed at the hands of those who have sworn to protect and serve all of us - not just the whitest among us," Crump said in a statement.

President Joe Biden also weighed in Monday, saying "I haven't called Daunte Wright's family, but our prayers are with their family. It's really a tragic thing that happened," Axios reported.

Biden said he watched body camera footage from Wright's death, calling it "fairly graphic."

"The question is, was it an accident, was it intentional? That remains to be determined by a full-blown investigation," he added. "But in the meantime, I want to make it clear again, there is absolutely no justification for violence. Peaceful protests? Understandable."

Just before 2 p.m. Sunday, police say they stopped a car for a traffic violation near the 6300 block of Orchard Avenue. The driver, later identified as Wright, had an outstanding warrant, according to officers.

When they tried to take him into custody, Wright got back into the car, according to police. An officer then shot Wright, who drove several blocks before crashing into another car.

Wright died at the scene. A woman who was in the passenger seat of the car was taken to North Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The people in the other car were not injured.

Protesters gathered at Brooklyn Center police headquarters Sunday night. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, reports KARE 11.

Looting began Sunday evening in the city and spread into Minneapolis. Foot Locker, T Mobile, and a New York men's clothing store in Brooklyn Center were "completed destroyed," the Star Tribune's Liz Sawyer reported.

Speaking before the unrest, Wright's mother, Katie Wright, urged protesters to stay peaceful and focused on the loss of her son.

"All the violence, if it keeps going, it’s only going to be about the violence. We need it to be about why my son got shot for no reason," she said to a crowd near the shooting scene in Brooklyn Center. "We need to make sure it’s about him and not about smashing police cars, because that’s not going to bring my son back."

Protesters who gathered near the scene waved flags and signs reading "Black Lives Matter." Others walked peacefully with their hands held up. On one street, someone wrote in multi-colored chalk: "Justice for Daunte Wright."

National Gaurd troops, who were activated by Gov. Tim Walz in February to maintain order during the murder trial against former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, arrived at the scene to curb vandalism.

Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, asked Judge Peter Cahill in court Monday morning to sequester the jury in light of Wright's death at the hands of police.

Cahill said he will wait to sequester the jury until next week during the trial's closing arguments.

Reporting and writing from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Also read: Photos: Civil Unrest In Brooklyn Center After Police Shooting