Angry protesters hit the streets after a police officer killed Wright during a traffic stop in Brookland Center on Sunday afternoon.
Police Chief Tim Gannon said the female officer meant to use his taser on the victim but ended up fatally shooting the 20-year-old black man.
He said the officers determined that the driver of the vehicle had an outstanding arrest warrant.
“At one point as officers were attempting to take the driver into custody, the driver re-entered the vehicle,” Gannon said in a statement Sunday. “One officer discharged their firearm, striking the driver.”
According to Gannon, available footage shows that the officer warns Wright that she will use her taser.
“However, the officer drew their handgun instead of their Taser,” Gannon said. “It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet. This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officer’s reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright.”
Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, said she was on the phone with him before he was killed.
“I heard scuffling and I heard the police officers say, ‘Daunte, don’t run.’ And then the other officer said, ‘Put the phone down,’ and hung it up,” Katie Wright told reporters on Sunday. “And a minute later, I called and his girlfriend answered — that was the passenger — and said that he’d been shot, and she put [the phone] on the driver’s side and my son was laying there lifeless.”
Over 100 people showed up at the site shortly after the incident, holding Black Lives Matter signs.
The crowd dispersed security agencies arrived on scene to coordinate a response to the protest.
Later, however, crowds of 100 to 200 people marched toward the Brooklyn Center Police Department headquarters and started throwing rocks and other objects while demanding justice for Wright.
Authorities declared the protests an unlawful assembly and gave the crowds 10 minutes to leave, ABC News reported.
About 25 minutes later, officers started firing rubber bullets and flash bangs to disperse protesters remaining in the area. No injuries have been reported, and it is unclear if any arrests have been made.
The protest largely ended by midnight although some individuals remained at the scene.
