Minnesota Police Officer Shouts ‘Taser’ But Fires Gun, Killing Daunte Wright

Daunte Wright, a 20-year old resident of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, was accidentally shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop on Sunday.

In a graphic body-camera video released on Monday, the officer appeared to be shouting “Taser” before firing her gun.

“It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” said Tim Gannon, Chief of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, about the video. “This appears to me, from what I viewed, and the officer’s reaction and discharge that resulted in a tragic death of Mr. Wright.”

The shooting officer has been placed on administrative leave and has yet to be identified.

Chief Gannon claimed that Wright was initially pulled over because his vehicle registration was expired. Officers soon learned he had outstanding warrants and tried taking him into custody. When Wright got back into his vehicle, the officer fired her gun. Wright drove several blocks with the wound before striking another vehicle and dying at the scene.

The shooting happened just 10 miles from where former police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for George Floyd‘s killing last May.

Hours after the shooting, hundreds of protestors marched toward the Brooklyn Center Police Department, followed by violence and looting over police misconduct and the killing of black people by police.

“We will get to the bottom of this,” Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot, said at a news conference on Monday. “We will do all that is within our power to make sure that justice is done for Daunte Wright.”

Article by Taylor Masi