Police chief, officer quit in Minnesota shooting

The police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb and the city's police chief have resigned, the mayor announced Tuesday.

Kim Potter, 48, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, submitted her letter of resignation Tuesday morning, Mayor Mike Elliott said at a news conference. He said the city didn't ask her to resign but that he had been moving toward firing her.

Police Chief Tim Gannon also resigned Tuesday. Commander Tony Gruenig, who has been with the department for 19 years, will take over as acting chief. City Manager Curt Boganey was fired after disagreeing with the mayor, arguing that Potter deserved "due process".

In her letter, Potter said she was resigning immediately.

"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," she wrote.

Gannon said he believed Potter mistook her firearm for her Taser when she shot Wright. The department released body-camera footage of the incident during which Potter shouted "Taser" several times before firing, then sounded surprised upon realizing she had shot Wright.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner said Wright, 20, died of a gunshot wound to the chest and ruled his death a homicide.

Wright's family called for the officer to be held accountable at a news conference with civil rights attorney Ben Crump on Tuesday. Crump, who is also the lead attorney for the family of George Floyd, called the shooting "entirely preventable" and "inhumane".

Crump said he was stunned when he heard news that another black man had been killed at the hands of police about 10 miles from where former officer Derek Chauvin is on trial in Floyd's death.

"If you told me and I didn't see little Daunte's face and his mother and grandmother crying, I wouldn't believe it," Crump said alongside the Wright and Floyd families.

Katie Wright, Wright's mother, called the day her son died "the worst day of my life".

"I never imagined this was what was going to happen. I just thought that he was getting arrested," Wright said.

"They murdered my nephew," Naisha Wright added, saying her great nephew was now "fatherless. Not over a mistake, over murder."

Gannon said officers tried to arrest Wright during the traffic stop because of an outstanding warrant.

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.

Video from Potter's body camera shows an officer on the driver's side of Wright's car beginning to handcuff Wright, who then breaks free and re-enters the car. A struggle ensues, and Potter is heard shouting "Taser" three times before shooting Wright. Potter is heard shouting, "Oh (expletive), I just shot him," and Wright drives away.

At the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Monday evening, protesters shouted and banged drums, chanting, "No justice, no peace" and "Our streets, our streets." Others chanted Wright's name. Some threw water bottles at police and set off fireworks. Windows at a Dollar Tree store across the street were broken, and the store was looted.

"Move back!" the police chanted.

"Hands up! Don't shoot!" the crowd chanted back.

Police lobbed chemicals at the crowd, and fences and metal barriers were put up around police headquarters State troopers and more than 1,000 Minnesota National Guard members also were stationed outside police headquarters.

Colonel Matt Langer of the Minnesota State Patrol said about 40 arrests were made at the protest.