Daunte Wright Was A 'Wonderful Father': Brother

BROOKLYN CENTER, MN — Family, friends, and community members held a vigil for Daunte Wright Monday evening. The 20-year-old Black man was fatally shot by police in Brooklyn Center Sunday afternoon.

The memorial was held at the intersection where he was pulled over and eventually shot.

Wright called his mother, Katie Wright, as he was getting pulled over, moments before his death. Dallas Bryant, one of Wright's six siblings, told the crowd during the vigil that Wright sounded scared on the phone.

Katie said she heard scuffling on the phone before someone said "Daunte, don't run." Daunte's girlfriend, who was in the car when police pulled them over, called Katie back to tell her that her son was shot.

"I just need everyone to know that he is much more than this," Katie said through tears, according to the Star Tribune. "He had a smile that was angelic."

"My heart is literally broken in 1,000 pieces."

Wright had a son, Daunte Jr., who will turn 2 in July, Yahoo News reported.

"He was an amazing uncle and a wonderful father," Bryant said at the vigil. "Just your average 20-year-old. He liked to drive around, listen to music."

"I just loved his personality," said Jonathan Mason, who mentored Wright when he worked at Edison High School in Minneapolis as a youth development specialist.

"He was the center of attention. He had a very, very welcoming personality. He would joke with you back and forth."

Wright voiced concerns about how to interact with police as a Black man, according to Mason.

"He was afraid police would do something like this to him," Mason said. "We talked about this daily. We talked about police brutality. We talk about these things in the Black community.

A makeshift memorial quickly took shape at the site where Wright was shot, located at 63rd Avenue North and Kathrene Drive in Brooklyn Center.

The original "fist" sculpture from George Floyd Square — at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis where he died in police custody — was placed at Wright's memorial Monday, the Star Tribune's Kim Hyatt reported.

Former President Barack Obama weighed in on Wright's death Tuesday, noting that it happened during the murder trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.

"The fact that this could happen even as the city of Minneapolis is going through the trial of Derek Chauvin and reliving the heart-wrenching murder of George Floyd indicates not just how important it is to conduct a full and transparent investigation, but also just how badly we need to reimagine policing and public safety in this country," Obama wrote on Facebook.

"Michelle and I grieve alongside the Wright family for their loss. We empathize with the pain that Black mothers, fathers, and children are feeling after yet another senseless tragedy. And we will continue to work with all fair-minded Americans to confront historical inequities and bring about nationwide changes that are so long overdue."

President Joe Biden 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.

"The question is, was it an accident, was it intentional? That remains to be determined by a full-blown investigation."

Officer identified

The Brooklyn Center police officer who officials say fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright Sunday is Kimberly A. Potter, who has been on the force for 26 years, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).

The BCA is leading the investigation into Wright's death. Read more here.

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