Former Brooklyn Center Officer to be Charged With Manslaughter

(KNSI) — The officer involved in a deadly shooting in Brooklyn Center will be charged with second-degree manslaughter.

The Washington County Attorney’s Office announced the intent to charge Kim Potter Wednesday morning.

Washington County was given the case under a policy implemented last year for counties in the metro area for fatal officer-involved shootings. It bars the county attorney’s office in the jurisdiction where the shooting happened from charging the case to avoid potential conflict of interest.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is still investigating the case.

Attorney Earl Grey represents Potter. Grey is currently defending former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder in the George Floyd case. Grey previously defended another police officer who was involved in the deadly shooting of Philando Castille. Jeronimo Yanez was found not guilty by a Ramsey County jury in June of 2017.

Potter was taken into custody at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. According to a press release from the BCA, “After consultation with the Washington County Attorney’s Office, Potter will be booked into the Hennepin County Jail for probable cause second-degree manslaughter.”

If convicted, Potter faces up to ten years in prison.

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