Police Officer Resigns After Shooting Unarmed Black Man In Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

By Jerry Filmore Jr. –

Mourners continue to come by the memorial site that sits at the intersection of 63rd Ave. and Kathrene Dr. in Brooklyn Center, where Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer on Sunday.

It started shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday on the 6300 block of Orchard Ave in Brooklyn Center. Officers stopped a vehicle for expired tags and learned the driver, Wright, had a warrant for a gross misdemeanor.

When officers attempted to arrest Wright, he got back into his vehicle and it was then that an officer fired her gun, hitting Wright.

Wright then drove several blocks before crashing into another car. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The medical examiner’s report classifies Wright’s death as a homicide.

The officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright has been identified as Kim Potter, 48, has been an officer with the Brooklyn Center Police Department for 26 years.

On Tuesday, Mayor Mike Elliott announced that Potter has resigned. The Mayor also announced, the city’s police chief, Tim Gannon has resigned.

In a letter that Potter sent to city officials on Tuesday, she said, “I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department and my fellow officers if I resign immediately.”

Former President Barack Obama is calling the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright “yet another senseless tragedy” and “a reminder of just how badly we need to reimagine policing and public safety in this country.”

Daunte Wright’s mother, Katie Wright said “My heart is literally broken into a thousand pieces and I don’t know what to do or what to say, but I just need everybody to know that he is much more than this.”

WDN Tiffany Williams contributed to this story from Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.