The officer, Kim Potter, resigned from the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police department Tuesday in the wake of the shooting.
The Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop Sunday will be charged with second-degree manslaughter, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said Wednesday after three nights of protests over Wright’s death.
The charges against Kim Potter come a day after both she and the police chief resigned from the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police department in the wake of the incident. Under Minnesota law, a person convicted of second-degree manslaughter can face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.
A day before he resigned, Police Chief Tim Gannon said he believed Potter meant to pull her taser instead of her handgun. Body camera footage released by the police department shows a female officer yelling “Taser!” three times during a traffic stop with Wright. The officer then fires a single gunshot and the female voice is heard saying, “Holy s—, I shot him!”
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner said Wright died by a gunshot wound and labeled his death a homicide.
The city, which sits on the northern edge of Minneapolis, is already on edge as the trial of Derek Chauvin, ex-Minneapolis police officer who is charged with murder in the death of George Floyd in May, continues just miles away. Dozens of people were reportedly arrested Tuesday night during demonstrations in Brooklyn Center, the majority for minor offenses such as curfew violations.
Officers pulled over Wright on Sunday afternoon for expired tags and something hanging on his rearview mirror. When officers tried to detain Wright after realizing he had an arrest warrant for a previous misdemeanor and a gross misdemeanor, according to the Star Tribune, Wright stepped back into his car. Potter then fired her weapon.