BREAKING NEWS: Minnesota cop who shot dead Daunte Wright will be charged with second-degree manslaughter
- Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter will be charged by the Washington County Attorney’s Office
- If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine
- Potter shot and killed the 20-year-old Sunday just 10 miles from the courthouse where Derek Chauvin is being tried for George Floyd’s murder
- The veteran officer resigned from the force Tuesday
The white female police officer who shot dead Daunte Wright will be charged with second-degree manslaughter over the black man’s killing.
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said Wednesday that the Washington County Attorney’s Office will file at least one count of manslaughter against Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter, the Star Tribune reported.
Under Minnesota law, second-degree-murder is when a person causes another person’s death by ‘culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another.’
If convicted, Potter faces up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Potter, 48, shot and killed 20-year-old Wright Sunday during a traffic stop just 10 miles from the courthouse where another white cop Derek Chauvin is currently being tried for the murder of black man George Floyd.
The veteran officer, who has worked for the department for 26 years but allegedly confused her gun for a taser, resigned from the force Tuesday as protests erupted in the city demanding justice for Wright.
Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon both resigned on Tuesday two days after the 20-year-old black man was shot dead after he was pulled over for what police said were expired license plate tags
Potter, a white veteran police officer, shot dead 20-year-old Daunte Wright, during a traffic stop in Minneapolis on Sunday after allegedly confusing her gun for a taser
The case had been referred to Orput by Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman due to a rule adopted last year that deadly police shootings should be handled by either another county or the state Attorney General’s Office in order to prevent conflict of interest.
Potter, who is being represented by attorney Earl Gray, was placed on administrative leave immediately after the shooting.
She then resigned Tuesday, issuing a short resignation letter where she did not address the deadly shooting.
‘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,’ Potter said.
The married mother-of-two is thought to have left her home in Minneapolis after her address was posted on social media.
Police guarded the property Tuesday night and fencing was erected around it as protesters took to the streets for a third night in outrage at the killing of another black man at the hands of law enforcement.
Police Chief Tim Gannon also resigned on Tuesday, one day after he said during a tense press conference that Wright’s death was the result of ‘accidental discharge’ after Potter mistook her taser for a gun.
Wright’s family have said they cannot accept the theory that his death was an accident.
Wright’s father Aubrey Wright told ABC’s Good Morning America Tuesday: ‘I can’t accept that – a mistake. That doesn’t even sound right.
Wright’s mother Katie Wright said she wanted to see Potter be ‘held accountable for everything that she’s taken from us.’
Potter was training a rookie cop on Sunday afternoon when the fatal incident unfolded near N. 63rd and Orchard avenues.
Police said Wright was first pulled over by the officers for expired license plate tags.