Ex-officer Kim Potter to be released from prison after 16 months for the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright
Ex-officer Kim Potter is scheduled to be released from prison Monday, just 16 months after she was convicted in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Minneapolis.
Potter, a 26-year police veteran, said she had confused her gun for a Taser when she shot Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, on April 11, 2021. She pulled him over in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center for an expired license plate, and then quickly realized there was an outstanding misdemeanor warrant out for his arrest.
Officers attempted to take him into custody, but he escaped their grasp and managed to get back inside his car. Footage from Potter’s body-camera showed her yelling “Taser, Taser” before she shot Wright.
Wright drove a short distance and then crashed his vehicle. He was pronounced dead on the scene. His girlfriend, who was in the passenger seat, was injured. She recently filed a lawsuit against Potter and Brooklyn Center, alleging the incident left her with PTSD.
The deadly shooting unfolded about 15 miles from where George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis the year before.
Potter later resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, and she was charged with second-degree manslaughter. A jury found her guilty in December 2021, and she was ordered to spend two years in prison — a sentence widely condemned for being far too lenient.
Potter has served 16 months at the Shakopee Minnesota Correctional Facility. She is scheduled to be released on Monday and will serve the remaining eight months under supervised release, the Star Tribune reported.
Last summer, the City of Brooklyn Center approved a $3.25 million settlement for Wright’s family in the shooting. His son will receive the bulk of the settlement.
