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Officer Who Shot Daunte Wright, Police Chief Resign From Force

(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Michael Ginsberg Congressional Correspondent
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Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kim Potter — who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop Sunday — resigned Tuesday, as did the town’s police chief.

Both Potter and Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon resigned from their positions, Mayor Mike Elliott announced at a press conference. Potter has reportedly been on administrative leave since the shooting.

“I am tendering my resignation from the Brooklyn Center Police Department effective immediately. 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,” Potter wrote.

Potter, a 26-year veteran of the police force, shot Wright during a traffic stop on April 11. She was also involved in a police shooting in 2019, although that shooting was found justified by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Body camera footage of the traffic stop shows Potter shouting “Taser, Taser” before shooting Wright with her service weapon. Officials said police pulled Wright over for expired vehicle registration, and then found that he had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court on a weapons charge.

“It is my belief that the officer had the intention to employ their Taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Gannon told reporters of the shooting during a Monday press conference. (RELATED: 40 Arrested After Riots Break Out In Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis)

The Brooklyn Center City Council fired City Manager Curt Boganey on Monday. Boganey refused to fire Potter before officials could conduct a full investigation into the shooting.