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A moment-by-moment timeline shows how the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright unfolded

2021-04-13T18:32:48-04:00April 13th, 2021|

Daunte Wright Timeline Shows How Fatal Police Shooting of Unfolded

  • A fatal police shooting in the Minnesota city of Brooklyn Center has stoked public outrage.
  • Ex-officer Kimberly Potter fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop on April 11.
  • Body camera footage, and statements from police and Wright’s family, show how the shooting unfolded.
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Around 1:30 p.m. on April 11, several police officers pulled Wright over in the city of Brooklyn Center for an alleged traffic violation.

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Then-police Chief Tim Gannon, who resigned Tuesday, later told reporters in a press conference that the officers initially pulled Wright over due to expired tags on his license plate.

As one officer approached Wright’s car, he noticed a “hanging item from the rearview mirror,” the police chief said.

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Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, told reporters the same day that the item was an air freshener.

Minnesota law prohibits drivers from placing “any objects suspended between the driver and the windshield,” apart from sun visors, rearview mirrors, safety equipment, GPS systems, and toll collection devices.

Civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union have since raised concerns that the law is allowing police to use “dangling air fresheners as an excuse for making a pretextual stop, something police do all too often to target Black people.”

At some point during the traffic stop, Wright called his mother and told her what was happening, she said. She said she heard an argument first, then a scuffling sound.

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Carlos Gonzalez/Star Tribune via Getty Images

“I said, ‘Why you getting pulled over?’ And he said they pulled him over because he had air fresheners hanging from his rear-view mirror. I said, ‘OK, take them down,'” his mother said, according to The Daily Beast.

She said she heard the officer approach Wright’s window and say, “Put the phone down and get out of the car,” to which Wright responded, “Why?” She said she heard the officer say he’d “explain to you when you get out of the car.”

Wright’s mother said she heard her son’s phone either being set down or dropped, then a scuffle, followed by an officer warning, “Daunte, don’t run.” The call dropped shortly afterward, she said.

Police body camera footage showed Wright exiting the driver’s side door before an officer started to place him in handcuffs. The officer, and another officer both told Wright he had a warrant.

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The officer handcuffing Wright paused momentarily, and appeared to warn Wright, “Don’t do it,” before Wright swiftly pulled his hands from the officer’s grasp and jumped back into the driver’s seat of the car.

An officer, who has since been identified as Kimberly Potter, could be seen withdrawing her gun and yelling, “I’ll tase you,” then, “Taser! Taser! Taser!” before opening fire.

daunte wright body camera footage
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Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

“Oh shit. I just shot him,” Potter said.

Gannon said he believes Potter genuinely intended to use her Taser, but instead fired a bullet. He said the fact that Potter repeatedly shouted “Taser!” was “done to make her partners aware, as well as the subject, that a taser deploy will be imminent.”

He added that officers are trained to keep their handguns on their dominant side, and their Tasers on their weak side.

Both of Wright’s parents have since said they don’t believe the shooting was a mistake.

“I cannot accept that. I lost my son. He’s never coming back,” Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright told Good Morning America on Tuesday. “A mistake? That doesn’t even sound right.”

Wright could be seen driving the car away from the scene. Police said he crashed into another car a few blocks later.

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Police said no one from the other car was injured in the crash.

Wright’s mother said she phoned her son just a minute after their previous call dropped, and his girlfriend, seated in the passenger seat, picked up.

“She said he had been shot,” Katie Wright said. “My son was laying there, lifeless.”

Just hours after the shooting, hundreds of protesters gathered in Brooklyn Center and clashed with police officers.

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Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Wright’s death set off two nights of civil unrest in Brooklyn Center, in which protesters clashed with police officers. State authorities reported Tuesday that while some protesters were peaceful, many were not.

At least 40 people were arrested in connection with the unrest, on charges ranging from curfew violations to rioting. Officials also reported several instances of looting and burglaries.

Authorities said protesters hit some officers with objects and debris, and police deployed flash-bangs and “chemical munitions” to disperse crowds.

Potter, who was initially placed on administrative leave, resigned on Tuesday, immediately followed by Gannon.

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