Kimberly Potter, the former Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright after mistakenly drawing her gun instead of her Taser, was arrested Wednesday and will be charged with second-degree manslaughter, state prosecutors said.
“Agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) this morning arrested a former Brooklyn Center police officer for the April 11 shooting death of Daunte Wright,” the state agency said on Twitter.
“Agents took Kim Potter into custody at approximately 11:30 a.m. at the BCA in St. Paul.”
The BCA said that “after consultation” with Washington County prosecutors, Potter will be booked at the Hennepin County Jail.
Washington County Attorney Peter Orput, who is expected to prosecute the case locally, said earlier that details of the charges will be released later, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
Potter, 48, was charged a day after she resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department in the wake of the 20-year-old’s shooting, which set off a third day of protests in the Minneapolis suburb.
Potter’s lawyer, Earl Gray, did not respond to requests for comment from The Post on Wednesday.
Gray is also representing former Minneapolis cop Thomas Lane, one of the former officers charged in connection with George Floyd’s police custody death.
Potter, a 26-year veteran and Police Chief Tim Gannon both resigned in the wake of the shooting. The city council also fired City Manager Curt Boganey over the incident.
Washington County was tapped to decide on charging instead of Hennepin County — where Brooklyn Center is located — to avoid a conflict of interest, officials said.
Wright’s death also is under review by the BCA.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott on Tuesday said he would ask Gov. Tim Walz to turn the prosecution over to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Wright was pulled over around 2 p.m. Sunday for having a suspended registration, authorities said. Police said they determined he was sought on a misdemeanor arrest warrant and tried to arrest him.
But the young man broke away and got back in his car, where he was shot by Potter before speeding off and crashing farther down the road — where he was pronounced dead.
Police said the officer mistakenly grabbed her service weapon instead of her Taser and fired a single, fatal shot.
“Holy s–t!” she can be heard saying on bodycam video. “I just shot him.”
Potter, who was training another officer at the time of her fatal mistake, was then placed on administrative leave.
In a statement announcing her resignation, she said: “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,” she wrote.
Wright had an open warrant related to an armed robbery case against him when he was shot dead.
He and another man had been charged with first-degree attempted aggravated robbery in December 2019 for allegedly trying to steal $820 from a woman at gunpoint, according to Hennepin County District Court documents.
In a statement Wednesday, Wright family attorney Ben Crump said the decision to charge Potter is “appreciated,” but added that “no conviction can give the Wright family their loved one back.”
“This was no accident,” the statement said. “This was an intentional, deliberate, and unlawful use of force.”
