Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police officer Kim Potter in 2007.
Bruce Bisping | Star Tribune via Getty Images
Kim Potter, the Minnesota police officer who shot dead Daunte Wright, was arrested Wednesday morning on charges of second-degree homicide, authorities reported.
Potter’s arrest came a day after he resigned from the Brooklyn Center police department and three days after the shooting of a 20-year-old black man.
Wright’s death, which occurred while fleeing a police traffic stop, raised tensions already high in and around Minneapolis over the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd last year.
Video footage of Potter’s body camera during Sunday’s showdown suggests he thought he fired a Taser when he pointed the gun at Wright and fired after he pulled away from another officer trying to handcuff him. him next to his SUV.
Wright had been dragged by Brooklyn Center police for expiring license plates and an air freshener hung in the rearview mirror.
Police then tried to arrest Wright after learning that he had been wanted with a pending order not to appear in court in a criminal case, where he was accused of carrying a weapon without permission, as well as fleeing police. in June.
Potter shouted frantically and repeatedly “Taser!” before shooting Wright while sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle after escaping from the other officer.
Potter’s Taser has a bright yellow color, in contrast to its 9mm black Glock pistol.
Prosecutor Pete Orput, in Washington County, Minnesota, announced that Potter would be criminally charged with Wright’s death.
She was arrested Wednesday morning at the Minnesota Criminal Detention Office. Authorities said she would be admitted to the Hennepin County Jail and that Washington County Prosecutor’s Office would file charges Wednesday later.
Authorities said the shooting investigation remains active.
Potter, who served 26 years in the Brooklyn Center Force and was previously president of his police union, has detained a defense attorney, Earl Gray, according to the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association. Gray did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gray also represents former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, one of two other former officers scheduled to be tried separately from Chauvin on minor charges related to Floyd’s death, who like Wright was black.
Chauvin’s assassination of Floyd sparked nationwide protests over police misconduct against minority suspects and called for a major reform of police practices.
Wright’s death has sparked protests in Brooklyn Center and Minneapolis.