Police claim Minnesota officer meant to draw Taser in fatal shooting of Daunte Wright

The fatal police shooting of a black man, 20, in a Minneapolis suburb appeared to be an "accidental discharge" by an officer who drew her gun during a struggle instead of her Taser, the city's police chief said on Monday. The shooting on Sunday in Brooklyn Centre, Minnesota, during a traffic stop led to the death of Daunte Wright. The site of his death is near where the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd, is being heard. Bodycam footage presented on Monday showed a struggle between Wright and the officer. Wright then returned to the car and an officer could be heard yelling "Taser, Taser, Taser." "This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officers' reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr Wright," Brooklyn Centre Police Chief Tim Gannon told a briefing. US President Joe Biden on Monday also called the shooting "tragic" but said that violent protests were unjustifiable. The incident in a Minneapolis suburb was a "really tragic thing that happened but I think we have to wait and see what the investigation shows", Mr Biden said. "In the meantime, I want to make it clear again: there is absolutely no justification, none, for looting. Peaceful protests, understandable." The president tweeted Monday night, saying he feels for Daunte Wright's family and "the pain, anger, and trauma that Black America experiences every day". Wright's mother, Katie Wright, said on Sunday that she had received a call from her son on Sunday afternoon telling her that police had pulled him over for having air fresheners dangling from his rear-view mirror, which is illegal in Minnesota. Ms Wright said she could hear police tell her son to get out of the vehicle. "I want to say that our hearts are aching right now," Brooklyn Park Mayor Mike Elliott said during the Monday briefing. "We are in pain right now. And we recognise that this couldn't have happened at a worse time. "We will get to the bottom of this. We will do all that is in our power to make sure that justice is done for Daunte Wright." Members of an angry crowd vandalised two police cars on Sunday after the shooting, which took place about 16 kilometres from where George Floyd died during his arrest last May in Minneapolis. About 100 people, some visibly upset and one carrying a sign declaring "Justice for George Floyd", confronted police who were in riot gear on Sunday night shortly after the shooting. At one point, police fired rubber bullets, hitting at least two people in the crowd, and injuring at least one, Reuters reported. Police also used tear gas on the crowd. Police cars were pelted with stones and rocks, the witness said, while Twitter video from a Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter showed people jumping up and down on the bonnets and roofs of the vehicles. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said on Sunday that he was monitoring the unrest as "our state mourns another life of a black man taken by law enforcement". The Brooklyn Centre Police Department said officers pulled Wright over for a traffic offence just before 2pm and ascertained that he had an outstanding arrest warrant. As police tried to arrest him, he re-entered the vehicle. One officer fired a weapon, striking the driver, police said. The driver drove several blocks before striking another vehicle, then died at the scene. Police said both of the officers' body cameras were activated during the incident. The "accidental discharge" by Brooklyn Centre police is similar to the 2009 police shooting of a black man in San Francisco. Tension in the Minneapolis area is extremely high as the murder trial of Mr Chauvin, captured on video kneeling for nine minutes on the neck of Floyd, 46, a handcuffed black man, entered its third week on Monday. Floyd's death led to protests around the country and the world against police brutality and racial injustice. In response to the protests, Mr Chauvin’s lead lawyer, Eric Nelson, renewed his request to have the jury sequestered by having members moved to a hotel. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill again denied the request. Mr Cahill said he would not sequester jurors until they began deliberations in the Minneapolis city centre, which was already heavily fortified against any unrest.

Police claim Minnesota officer meant to draw Taser in fatal shooting of Daunte Wright

US President Biden calls shooting 'really tragic' but warns against street violence in response