Fatal Brooklyn Center Police Shooting Believed to be Accidental

(KNSI) — The fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man by a Brooklyn Center police officer is believed to be accidental.

Body-worn camera footage released at a press conference Monday afternoon shows Daunte Wright being stopped by police. Police Chief Tim Gannon says police pulled Wright over for expired licensed tabs. Gannon says both he and his staff are aware of a significant delay in drivers getting their license tabs from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Officers can be seen on camera notifying Wright he was being arrested due to an outstanding warrant. What that warrant is for is unclear, but Gannon says it was a gross misdemeanor. Wright can be seen struggling with officers as they tried to take him into custody. An officer can be heard announcing she was deploying her taser but fired her gun instead.

Chief Gannon explained that officers train with their firearm on their dominant side and taser on their weak side. He says this is done purposefully, and adds, “As I watched the video and listened to the officer’s commands, it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet. This appears to me, from what I viewed, and the officer’s reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright.”

The officer is on administrative leave until the investigation is over. When questioned about whether she will be fired, Gannon says she needs to be afforded due process, but “I think we can look at the video and ascertain whether or not should be returning.” Gannon refused to release her name but said she was a “very senior officer.”

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the shooting. Mayor Mike Elliott supports the officer being fired. There are also calls for Gannon to step down as well, but he told the media he had no plans to do so.

Riots rocked the city just north of Minneapolis after the news broke that Wright had been shot. Stores were looted, and police squad cars were damaged. Gannon said officers were pelted with chunks of concrete and frozen cans of pop. One Hennepin County sheriff’s deputy was hit in the head with a piece of concrete and needed to be taken to the hospital for treatment.

The Minnesota National Guard was called in to help law enforcement overnight as a curfew was enacted by the mayor.

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