Female cop Kimberly Potter who ‘mistakenly’ shot dead Daunte Wright while trying to use Taser named as 25-year veteran
THE senior female cop who allegedly shot and killed Daunte Wright by accident was named, as a state of emergency was declared in Minneapolis.
Kimberly Potter, a 25-year veteran of the force, allegedly fired her gun accidentally while trying to use a Taser after Wright, 20, was pulled over for a traffic stop on Sunday.
Potter, 48, has reportedly been placed on administrative duty, and the Brooklyn Center Police Department is facing calls for her to resign.
that she is a mother to two adults sons, and joined the police force in Minnesota in 1995 at the age of 22.
She also reportedly served on the negotiation team during her tenure at the department.
Clashes between cops and protesters got violent at times, with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas, demanding the demonstrators disperse.
"I want to say that our hearts are aching right now," Brooklyn Park Mayor Mike Elliott said during a briefing.
"We are in pain right now. And we recognize that this couldn't have happened at a worse time."
Elliot has called for the veteran officer to be removed from her job.
On Monday evening, he announced that Brooklyn Center's City Manager Curt Boganey, who publicly disagreed that the officer should be fired, was "relieved of his duties."
At a press conference earlier in the day, Boganey had said that the officer would receive "due process" before any discipline is determined.
Last night, Wright’s sobbing mother Katie told a crowd how her son called her to say he had been pulled over by police because of an air freshener that was dangling from his rear view mirror.
She said she heard officers tell her son to put his phone down, and then one of the officers ended the call.
Soon after, her son's girlfriend told her he had been shot.
She told reporters: "All he did was have air fresheners in the car and they told him to get out of the car.
"He got out of the car and his girlfriend said they shot him."
According to a statement from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, officers pulled Wright over for a traffic violation.
When they discovered he had an outstanding warrant, they tried to take him into custody.
He got back into his car, and one of the officers shot him dead.
On Monday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner officially ruled the cause of death was "homicide."
The ME declared that Wright "died of a gunshot wound of the chest and manner of death is homicide."
A female passenger who was in the car with Wright reportedly suffered "non-life-threatening injuries" and was transported to a local hospital.
Hundreds of people took to the streets on Sunday following the shooting with police firing teargas and flash bangs to disperse the mob.
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Photos from the protest showed men stomping on the windshield of a police cruiser.
By around midnight local time, the National Guard was on the scene and Brooklyn Center Mayor Elliott imposed a curfew from 1am this morning until 6am.