A suburban Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a weekend traffic stop accidentally drew her firearm instead of a stun gun, the city’s police chief said Monday. Although rare, a string of similar incidents has happened in recent years across the U.S.
Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said the officer, who has not been identified, had made a mistake in firing her gun at 20-year-old Daunte Wright, who later died. Video of the shooting taken from the officer’s body camera includes audio of her saying “Holy (expletive)! I shot him,” after firing a single round from her handgun.
Gannon said that the officer’s immediate distress showed her use of the gun was unintentional.
“As you can hear, the officer, while struggling with Mr. Wright yells ‘Taser! Taser!’ several times. That is part of the officer’s training prior to deploying a Taser, which is a less lethal device,” Gannon said. “As I watch the video and listen to the officer’s commands, it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet.”
Some questions and answers about officers who mistakenly discharge firearms when they intended to draw and deploy stun guns: