Officer involved in fatal shooting of Duante Wright identified

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) released a statement Monday identifying Kim Potter as the officer who discharged her firearm during an officer involved shooting incident that killed Duante Wright on Sunday in Brooklyn Center.

According to the BCA, Officer Kim Potter has been with the Brooklyn Center Police Department for 26 years. The department said she is on standard administrative leave.

Brian Peters, head of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, told the Star Tribune that Potter was working in her role as a field training officer on Sunday. "She’s just a very dedicated, passionate, good person. It’s completely devastating. In a very tense moment, she made a mistake. It’s not her character."

Potter, 48, became the department’s police union president in 2019 and has previously been a member of the honor guard casket team for the Law Enforcement Memorial Association.

Daunte Wright, 20, was fatally shot during a traffic stop after resisting arrest for an outstanding warrant on a weapons charge. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said the officer who shot Wright had intended to use a Taser and fired their gun instead. A female voice can be heard yelling, "Taser, taser, Taser!" in the bodycam footage.

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Gannon said that officers are trained to shout taser before deploying one. "As you can hear, the officer while struggling with Mr. Wright shouts, 'Taser, Taser' several times. That is a part of the officer’s training prior to deploying a Taser, which is a less lethal device. That is done to make her partners aware, as well as the subject, that a Taser deployment will be imminent. During this encounter, however, the officer drew their handgun instead of their Taser."

Brooklyn Center City Manager Curt Boganey was fired on Monday, after publicly disagreeing with Mayor Mike Elliott’s statement that Potter who allegedly fatally shot Duante Wright should be terminated immediately.

The City Council voted to fire the longtime city employee during an emergency meeting and also gave the mayor command of the city's police department. The outlet stated that Council Member Kris Lawrence-Anderson said she voted to fire Boganey for fear of reprisals from protestors.

According to the Star Tribune, Potter has served on the department’s negotiation team. The outlet reported that Potter is the mother of two adult sons, and her husband is a former Fridley, Minnesota, police officer.