MINNEAPOLIS — The shooting of Daunte Wright could lead to criminal charges against former Brooklyn Center police Officer Kimberly Potter as soon as Wednesday, according to the county attorney handling the case.
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said Tuesday that he's spent hours reviewing video and other evidence of the shooting and expects to file something — he didn't clarify what the charges would be — by Wednesday.
"We've already done a great deal of research," Orput said, adding that prosecutor Imran Ali has been working on the case as well.
It would be just the second time a U.S. police officer faces criminal charges for fatally shooting someone with a service weapon in an apparent mix-up with their Taser.
Bay Area Rapid Transit police Officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a jury trial and sentenced to two years in prison for the 2009 shooting of Oscar Grant III in Oakland, California. Mehserle's attorney argued that his client meant to use a Taser when he fired one bullet into Grant's back. The case was dramatized in the movie "Fruitville Station," which was released in 2013.
Attempts to reach Potter or her attorney, Earl Gray, were not successful Tuesday.
Potter resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Tuesday morning, saying in a letter to city officials that she would leave the department effective immediately.
Police Chief Tim Gannon also resigned Tuesday.
"I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability," Potter, a 26-year veteran of the department, wrote in a letter to Gannon, Mayor Mike Elliott and acting City Manager Reggie Edwards. "But I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately."
Elliott told reporters Tuesday that city officials did not ask Potter to resign.
"That was a decision she made," he said.
Potter, 48, was a longtime member of the department, starting there in 1995.
She was among a small group of women on the force: In 2019, the most recent year for which FBI data were available, the department had eight female officers and 41 male officers.
Potter was commended for her response, along with two other officers, to a shooting outside a Brooklyn Center business in 2016.
She was named president of the Brooklyn Center Police Officer's Association in 2019 and represented officers involved in fatal shootings.
She was among the first officers to arrive at the scene of the 2019 fatal shooting of Kobe Dimock-Heisler, 21, by Brooklyn Center police Officers Cody Turner and Brandon Akers.
On Sunday, Potter was working as a field training officer, helping a new officer learn the job, when they attempted to arrest Wright.
The shooting happened about 2 p.m. near North 63rd and Orchard avenues. Gannon said he was told during a briefing that officers stopped Wright's car because it had an expired tag and, when they checked his name, found he had a warrant.
Gannon said he believed Potter had meant to use her Taser but had mistakenly fired her service weapon instead.
The overhaul at City Hall also included the firing Monday of longtime City Manager Curt Boganey, who had responsibility and day-to-day command over the Police Department until the City Council gave that authority, at least temporarily, to the mayor's office.
Elliott, the mayor, said Boganey had made strides in improving the city, but the council "determined it was in the best interest to seek new leadership in the city."
Cmdr. Tony Gruenig, who has been with the department 19 years, will serve as acting police chief. He will be assisted by Cmdr. Garett Flesland, another veteran officer. Together they will lead a staff of about 49 officers, of which "very few" are Black or people of color, Elliott said.
Gannon, a Marine Corps veteran, told a local cable TV news station when he was appointed chief that he wanted to reduce crime, create better connections between officers and the community and diversify the department.
In an interview, former Brooklyn Center Mayor Tim Willson said Gannon knew and understood the community and worked with officers to determine if they were doing the right thing."When he was appointed chief, that was a good deal," Willson said. "He was a very good and dedicated police officer. I'm very sad to see him go."
Elliott had little to say about his former police chief at Tuesday's media event, but said Gruenig has a strong commitment to working with the community.
"He has done that throughout is career," Elliott said. "That is why he is the right person for the job."
Gruenig, who said at Tuesday's news conference that he'd learned of the staffing change within the previous hour, faces major challenges as he steps to the helm.
"It's very chaotic right now," he said. "We're just trying to wrap our heads around the situation and try to create some calm."
As protesters vowed to return to police headquarters Tuesday night after tense encounters with law enforcement Sunday and Monday, officers were under new restraints. The City Council on Monday passed a resolution prohibiting officers from using tear gas or other chemicals and from shooting rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Officers will not be able to cover their badge numbers or prohibit members of the public from videotaping them while on duty. They also will be prohibited from forming police lines to arrest large numbers of people, performing chokeholds or using harsher punishments.
Some members of the public who attended Tuesday's news conference were heartened to hear that the new chief wants to reach out to the community, but others said wholesale changes are needed within the department, starting with a review of internal policies and procedures. They wondered if anything would change, even with a new chief.
"You can take the trash out, but it has a way of recycling itself," said Kimberly Handy-Jones, whose son Cordale was killed in 2017 in a confrontation with St. Paul police.
Democratic state Rep. John Thompson, of St. Paul, said the department needs to stop racial profiling and that "some things don't need to be enforced" — a reference to officers stopping Wright because his vehicle had expired license tabs.
After the stop, officers determined Wright had a warrant. Potter mistakenly used her gun instead of a Taser as officers tried to arrest Wright, Gannon said Monday.
At City Hall, Elliott said the personnel changes won't be a panacea, but the mayor hopes they will bring calm to the community.
"I went out and talked with the protesters and I saw young people who looked like Daunte," Elliott said. "I could feel their pain, their anger, their fear. Ultimately they want justice and full accountability under the law. We have to make sure justice is done."
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(Staff writers Tim Harlow, Alex Chhith and Erin Adler contributed to this report.)
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