White officer mistakenly killed a 20-year-old black man at a traffic stop, says police

A 20-year-old man was fatally shot during a traffic stop after a Minnesota police officer shouted "Taser!" but fired a handgun instead, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said.

Daunte Wright was driving with his girlfriend Sunday afternoon when he was pulled over in the Minneapolis suburb.

Earlier, police said they tried to take the driver into custody after learning during a traffic stop that he had an outstanding warrant.

The man got back into his vehicle, and an officer shot him, police said. They said the man drove several blocks before striking another vehicle.

Bodycam video released by the police chief Monday provided more details about what happened.

Wright got out of his car, but then got back in.

It's not clear why, but the police chief told reporters it appeared from the video that Wright was trying to leave.

An officer is then heard shouting, "Taser! Taser! Taser!" but then fires a gun -- not a Taser -- at Wright.
"Holy sh*t!" the officer screams. "I shot him."

 



The police chief said the shooting appeared to be "an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright."
Gannon offered his "deepest sympathies" to Wright's family and vowed continued transparency.

"There's nothing I can say to lessen the pain that Mr. Wright's family, friends, for the that feeling of loss that they must have," the chief said.

"That pain is shared by the community and also all those involved in the incident."

The shooting happened in Brooklyn Park, about 10 miles from where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the killing of another Black man, George Floyd.

Gov. Tim Walz offered his condolences to Wright's family.

"Gwen and I are praying for Daunte Wright's family as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement."

The police chief said Wright was initially pulled over due to an expired tag.

Gannon said he had "very little information on the warrant, other than it was a gross misdemeanor warrant."

Moments before he was killed, Wright called his mother and said he had been pulled over.

He was with his girlfriend Sunday afternoon when a police officer stopped him, his mother Katie Wright told CNN affiliate WCCO.

 



"He said they pulled him over because he had air fresheners hanging from the rearview mirror," Katie Wright said.

During their call, Katie Wright heard some of the conversation between police and her son, she told CNN affiliate KARE.

"I heard the police officer come to the window and say, 'Put the phone down and get out of the car,' and Daunte said, 'Why?' And he said, 'We'll explain to you when you get out of the car,'" Katie Wright told KARE.

"So I heard the phone get either put on the dashboard or dropped, and I heard scuffling, and I heard the police officers say, 'Daunte don't run.' And then the other officer said, 'Put the phone down and hung it up."

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