Police shooting: Minnesota officer meant to draw Taser, not handgun

The unidentified policewoman involved in the shooting was yelling 'Taser Taser Taser' while clearly holding a handgun.

Police in a Minneapolis suburb where a Black man was fatally shot during a traffic stop say the officer who fired intended to use a Taser, not a handgun.

The man identified by relatives as 20-year-old Daunte Wright died on Sunday in Brooklyn Center, a city of about 30,000 people on the northwest border of Minneapolis. His death sparked violent protests, with officers in riot gear clashing with demonstrators into Monday morning.

Police Chief Tim Gannon described the shooting as "an accidental discharge."

Police stand near a police cruiser after a rock was thrown at it in protest in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis. Daunte Wright, 20, was shot by police following a traffic stop. Photo / AP

Body camera video released on Monday showed the officer shot Wright when she thought she was using her Taser.

The video shows the officer telling Wright she would "tase" him and then yelling, "Taser, Taser, Taser," while Wright was trying to get back into his car to drive away. She then fires her gun and backs away, reacting with surprise and saying, "holy sh*t, I just shot him."

Daunte Wright, 20, was fatally shot following a traffic stop. Body camera footage appears to indicate that police intended to Taser him.

The Minneapolis area was already on edge because of the trial of the first of four police officers charged in George Floyd's death. The judge in that case refused Monday to sequester the jury after a defense attorney argued that the panel could be influenced by the prospect of what might happen as a result of their verdict.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz tweeted that he was praying for Wright's family "as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement."

Family and friends of Daunte Wright, 20, grieve hours after they say he was shot and killed by police. Photo / AP

Speaking before the unrest, Wright's mother, Katie Wright, urged protesters to stay peaceful and focused on the loss of her son.

"All the violence, if it keeps going, it's only going to be about the violence. We need it to be about why my son got shot for no reason," she said to a crowd near the shooting scene in Brooklyn Center, a city of about 30,000 people on the northwest border of Minneapolis. "We need to make sure it's about him and not about smashing police cars, because that's not going to bring my son back."

Protesters who gathered near the scene waved flags and signs reading "Black Lives Matter." Others walked peacefully with their hands held up. On one street, someone wrote in multi-coloured chalk: "Justice for Daunte Wright."

Men jump on police vehicles near the site of a shooting involving a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis. Photo / AP

Officers stopped a motorist shortly before 2pm on Sunday for an unspecified traffic violation, police said in a statement. Authorities planned to provide an update later Monday.

Katie Wright said her son called her as he was getting pulled over.

"All he did was have air fresheners in the car, and they told him to get out of the car," Wright said. During the call, she said she heard scuffling and then someone saying "Daunte, don't run" before the call ended. When she called back, her son's girlfriend answered and said he had been shot.

After determining the driver had an outstanding warrant, police said they tried to arrest him. Then the driver reentered the vehicle, and an officer fired, striking him, police said. The vehicle travelled several blocks before striking another vehicle.

Police in riot gear respond to a scene in front of the Brooklyn Center Police station in Minneapolis. Photo / AP

Wright's family offered a different account, with Katie Wright saying her son was shot before getting back into the car.

A female passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the crash, authorities said. Katie Wright said that passenger was her son's girlfriend.

Court records show Wright was being sought after failing to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police in June. In that case, a statement of probable cause said police got a call about a man waving a gun who was later identified as Wright."

Shortly after the shooting, demonstrators began to gather, with some jumping atop police cars. Marchers also descended on the Brooklyn Center Police Department, where rocks and other objects were thrown at officers, authorities said. The protesters had largely dispersed by 1:15am on Monday.

National Guard soldiers maintain watch and direct traffic at a shopping centre in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis. Photo / AP

US President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting, and the White House has been in touch with the governor, mayor and local law enforcement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

"We were incredibly saddened to hear about the loss of life at the hands of law enforcement in Minnesota yesterday," she said.

National Guard troops and law enforcement officers continued to guard the front of the police department on Monday morning. Police were erecting a concrete barrier as Minnesota State Patrol officers joined the line in front of the precinct.

Several people and reporters watched from across the street as traffic returned to normal on the street where protesters were met with tear gas the night before. One man yelled at the officers using a megaphone as others flew Black Lives Matter flags.

About 20 businesses were broken into at the city's Shingle Creek shopping center, Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said at a news conference.

Damik Wright, brother of Daunte Wright, who was shot and killed by police, holds Daunte's son Daunte Jr., over his head to look at police officers assembling with riot gear. Photo / AP

The National Guard was activated, and Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott announced a curfew that expired shortly before daybreak.

Police said Brooklyn Center officers wear body cameras, which they believe were activated during the traffic stop. The department said it has asked the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate.

The trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer charged in Floyd's death, continued Monday. Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck. Prosecutors say Floyd was pinned for 9 minutes, 29 seconds.

More National Guard members and state law enforcement personnel were to be deployed around the Twin Cities and in Brooklyn Center in addition to teams already in place for Chauvin's trial at the Hennepin County courthouse in Minneapolis, Harrington said.

There was no visible increase in the already high security presence on Monday morning outside the courthouse, which was fortified ahead of Chauvin's trial with tall fencing topped with barbed wire and coils of razor wire between the fences and concrete barriers. National Guard troops with military vehicles, sheriff's deputies and county security guards continued to stand watch.

Meanwhile, all Brooklyn Center students were to attend online classes Monday because school buildings were closed, Superintendent Carly Baker said.

- AP