Minnesota officer meant to draw Taser, not gun that killed Black man: police
Police in a Minneapolis suburb where a Black man was fatally shot during a traffic stop say the officer who fired intended to use a Taser, not a handgun.
Police Chief Tim Gannon described the shooting as “an accidental discharge.”
The man identified by relatives as 20-year-old Daunte Wright died Sunday in Brooklyn Center, a city of about 30,000 people on the northwest border of Minneapolis. His death sparked violent protests, with officers in riot gear clashing with demonstrators into Monday morning.
The Minneapolis area was already on edge because of the trial of the first of four police officers charged in George Floyd’s death.
The judge in that case refused Monday to sequester the jury after a defence lawyer argued that the panel could be influenced by the prospect of what might happen as a result of their verdict.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz tweeted that he was praying for Wright’s family “as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement.”
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.
Protesters who gathered near the scene waved flags and signs reading “Black Lives Matter.”
Officers stopped a motorist shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday for an unspecified traffic violation, police said in a statement.
Katie Wright said her son called her as he was getting pulled over.
“All he did was have air fresheners in the car, and they told him to get out of the car,” Wright said. During the call, she said she heard scuffling and then someone saying “Daunte, don’t run” before the call ended. When she called back, her son’s girlfriend answered and said he had been shot.
After determining the driver had an outstanding warrant, police said they tried to arrest him. Then the driver re-entered the vehicle, and an officer fired, striking him, police said. The vehicle travelled several blocks before striking another vehicle.
Wright’s family offered a different account, with Katie Wright saying her son was shot before getting back into the car.
Court records show Wright was being sought after failing to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police in June.
Shortly after the shooting, demonstrators began to gather, with some jumping atop police cars. Marchers also descended on the Brooklyn Center Police Department, where rocks and other objects were thrown at officers, authorities said.
National Guard troops and law enforcement officers continued to guard the front of the police department on Monday as a concrete barrier was erected.
Police said Brooklyn Center officers wear body cameras, which they believe were activated during the traffic stop. The department said it has asked the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate.
The trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer charged in Floyd’s death, continued Monday.