A police officer fatally shot a Black man, identified as Daunte Wright, after he was pulled over in a Minneapolis suburb Sunday, leading to clashes between protesters and law enforcement. On Monday, the police chief for the city of Brooklyn Center said the unidentified officer intended to use her Taser but instead grabbed her gun and shot Wright.
Sunday’s shooting happened in the midst of the Derek Chauvin trial for the killing of George Floyd.
Police said officers pulled over a driver just before 2 p.m. Sunday and determined there was an outstanding warrant for him. Police said when they tried to arrest him, he got back in his vehicle and drove away. An officer fired at the vehicle, hitting the driver. Police said the vehicle traveled several blocks before hitting another one. No one in that second vehicle was hurt.
The driver of the first vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said officers were believed to be wearing activated body cameras at the time of the shooting.
A crowd began to gather at the crash scene later in the afternoon. Just after 6 p.m., protesters tore down crime scene tape, with the crowd and the victim’s family demanding answers from law enforcement, CBS Minnesota reports.
A woman who said she’s the driver’s mother, Katie Wright, told the crowd her son — 20-year-old Daunte Wright — was the man who was shot. She said Wright’s girlfriend was in the car with him during the traffic stop. Police said the woman suffered non-life threatening injuries in the crash and was taken to a hospital.
Authorities said the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the name of the man who was killed after a preliminary autopsy and notification of his family.
Protesters later gathered at Brooklyn Center Police headquarters. Law enforcement formed a human chain to protect the building and started using flashbangs and tear gas to try to disperse the crowd, according to CBS Minnesota reporters at the scene.
