Chief: Officer in death tried to stun, not shoot
Body-cam footage in Wright’s death released
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. – Police in Minnesota on Monday released footage from the body-worn camera of the officer who fatally shot a 20-year-old Black man, and the police chief said he believed the officer intended to fire a stun gun during the incident.
Daunte Wright, 20, died after the traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on Sunday.
The brief body-camera video released Monday shows one officer on the driver side and one officer on the passenger side of Wright’s car. The video is taken from the perspective of the third officer standing behind the vehicle. Shortly after police approach, Wright gets out of the car and the officer on the driver side begins to handcuff him.
But Wright pulls away and reenters the driver seat as an officer pulls out her firearm. She is heard saying, “I’ll tase you! I’ll tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” After she fires a shot, the car drives away and the officer says, “Oh (expletive), I just shot him.”
Police said the car drove several more blocks before striking another vehicle. They said the driver died at the scene, and a woman in the passenger seat was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
“It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said Monday.
Police responded to protests Sunday with riot gear as demonstrators gathered in the city, mourning Wright’s death. Video posted to Twitter showed police firing gas and a chemical agent at protesters who gathered at the police department Sunday night.
Brooklyn Center Police Department said in a statement that officers initiated a traffic stop around 2 p.m. Sunday. The statement did not indicate what the initial stop was for other than “a traffic violation.” Officers determined the driver had an outstanding warrant and tried to take the driver into custody, police said.
Daunte’s mother, Katie Wright, told reporters her son was driving a vehicle the family had given him weeks ago and called her as he was being pulled over with his girlfriend in the car, The New York Times reported.
“He called me at about 1:40, said he was getting pulled over by the police,” she said in a Facebook Live video.
People gathered in Brooklyn Center shortly after news spread of Wright’s death. Wright’s family and friends were among those who marched in the streets and carried signs and flags that read Black Lives Matter.
About 100 people had gathered near the scene where Wright died, according to the Star-tribune. Protesters pushed past police tape, confronting officers donning riot gear and breaking the windshields of two police cars. Police fired non-lethal rounds to try to disperse the crowd.
At the police department, a large crowd was met by a riot line.
John Harrington, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said protesters started throwing rocks and other objects. Police responded with tear gas and flash-bang grenades.
The group had mostly dispersed by about 1:15 a.m. Monday.