Daunte Wright

Date: 4/11/2021          Location: Brooklyn Center, MN                    FACTORS (1,2,8,14,16,19)  

Name: Daunte Wright                        

Criminal History/Involved: Yes, Wright has previous convictions for disorderly conduct, possession and sale of marijuana, and “was allegedly involved in an armed carjacking and violent assault” in March 2021. Additionally, Wright is accused of shooting a man in the head on May 14, 2019, and had an arrest warrant for aggravated armed robbery for a December 2019 incident./Yes, Wright was wanted for failing to appear in court from a previous arrest.  

Mental Illness: None Stated.

Substance Abuse History/Involved: Yes, a prior marijuana related arrest./None stated.

Race/Sex/Age: Black/Male/20

Officer(s) involved: Brooklyn Center PD PO’s Kim Potter, Anthony Luckey, and Sgt. Mychal Johnson  

What prompted the initial contact with police? At approximately 1:53 p.m. on April 11, 2021, Brooklyn Center police officers pulled over a vehicle being operated by Daunte Wright for an expired registration. After running Wright’s name in the database and finding out he had a warrant for a gun charge, Officer Anthony Luckey asked Wright to step out of the vehicle.

Actions taken by subject towards police: Wright initially complied with the officer’s commands and exited his vehicle, but when Officer Luckey told Wright he had a warrant and was under arrest, Wright struggled and broke free from PO Luckey and PO Kim Potter and got back into the driver’s seat of his vehicle.

Reactions by the police: Officer Potter followed Wright to the open driver’s side door where she can be seen on her bodycam video pointing her gun at him while shouting, ““I’ll Tase you! I’ll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!”. As Wright can be seen moving around in the driver’s seat, Officer Potter fired one shot, striking Wright in the chest before she can be heard saying in disbelief that she shot him. Wright drove off, crashed shortly after, and died from the gunshot.

Outcome of investigation into the fatal police incident: Officer Potter resigned and was charged with and has been convicted of first and second-degree manslaughter.

What could the subject have done that day to still be alive today? Not commit traffic violations that get him pulled over; not commit a previous gun crime that generated an arrest warrant; comply and let Officer Luckey arrest him and be processed for that warrant.

Justified Use of Deadly Force? While this was obviously an accidental discharge, YES, Officer Potter was justified to use deadly force out of a reasonable fear that Wright got back into his vehicle to procure an accessible weapon as happened to PO Jordan Sheldon on 5/4/2019, and Sgt. Craig Johnson on 6/30/2020; or that once behind the wheel Wright would run over or drag her or a fellow officer to their death as happened to Sgt. Conley Jumper on 10/20/2020 and Newport News PO Katherine Thyne on 1/23/2020.