Kim Potter trial live updates – Daunte Wright shooting officer tells of ‘chaotic’ struggle and breaks down in tears

Scenes from Daunte Wright’s funeral

The family of George Floyd was at the funeral, as well the relatives of Emmett Till, Philando Castile, and Breonna Taylor.

Rev Al Sharpton delivered Wright’s eulogy before Minnesota lawmakers Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Gov Tim Walz, and Senator Amy Klobuchar all spoke.

“No words can help to ease the loss you bear,” Omar told the family as she also struggled to speak.

She presented Wright’s parents with a flag that had been flown over the US Capitol in honor of their son.

Daunte’s smile ‘worth a million dollars’

Daunte’s mother Katie Wright battled through tears to tell the crowd gathered to remember him in Minneapolis that he “had a smile that was worth a million dollars.”

“When he walked in the room, he lit up the room. He was a brother, a jokester, he was loved by so many. He’s going to be so missed,” she said.

“I remember when Daunte first became a father … the joy that Jr brought Daunte’s life was truly amazing.

“He always said he couldn’t wait to make his son proud. Jr was the joy of his life and he lived for him every single day and now he’s not going to be here to see him.

“My son should be burying me,” Wright’s mother added before returning to her seat and breaking down in tears.

Potter’s attorney on shooting

Potter’s attorney, Paul Engh, said the shooting never would have happened if Wright complied.

All Wright “had to do was surrender,” Engh said. “All he has to do is stop and he’d be with us.”

Engh argued that Potter was attempting to use her taser on Wright to protect her partner Sergeant Mychal Johnson, who was in Wright’s car and would have gotten hurt should Wright have driven off.

“She realizes what has happened much to her everlasting and unending regret,” Engh said of Potter’s reactions after the shooting.

“She made a mistake. This was an accident. She is a human being, but she had to do what she had to do to prevent a death to a fellow officer, too.”

Engh added that Potter had a “good name has been besmirched by this allegation, which is not true, and by the press coverage, which has been slanted.

“We seek to reclaim it and reclaim it we will,” Engh’s statement concluded.

Death of Kobe Dimock-Heisler, continued

Officers were called out to the scene because Dimock-Heisler – who told them he was suicidal and had self-harm marks on his body – threatened his elderly grandfather with a knife and a hammer.

He then lunged at three cops and tried to stab another officer, Jospeh Vu, with the knife before being shot three times each by Turner and Akers, “killing him almost instantaneously.”

The report stated that Potter, a Brooklyn Center Police Department (BCPD) officer, was one of the first cops to arrive at the scene and instructed her colleagues to turn off their body-worn cameras (BWC).

The report concluded that “the evidence in this case does not support the filing of criminal charges” against the officers who shot Dimock-Heisler.

Additionally, there was no indication Potter’s actions were being investigated over this incident.

Before Dimock-Heisler was shot dead in 2019, his grandfather informed cops that his grandson was autistic and troubled.

2019 death of Kobe Dimock-Heisler

A report states that Potter, who joined the force in 1995, told officers involved in a police custody shooting to turn off their body cams afterwards – two years before she herself accidentally shot Wright.

Kobe Dimock-Heisler, 21, was fatally gunned down after he ran at two police officers with a knife on August 31, 2019, a Hennepin County Attorney’s report revealed.

“Potter instructed Officers [Cody] Turner and [Brandon] Akers to exit the residence, get into separate squad cars, turn off their body worn cameras, and to not talk to each other,” the filing noted.

Although there’s no evidence of wrongdoing on Potter’s part in this report, lawyers for the Wright family have cited it regardless.

Daunte Wright called mother before shooting

Wright’s sobbing mother Katie told a crowd how her son called her to say he had been pulled over by police because of an air freshener on his rearview mirror.

She said she heard officers tell her son to put his phone down, and then the call ended.

Soon after, her son’s girlfriend told her he had been shot.

Events in shooting of Daunte Wright

Potter’s bodycam footage revealed the moment Wright was killed during a routine traffic stop.

According to a statement from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, Wright was pulled over for a traffic violation.

Officers tried to take him into custody when they discovered he had an outstanding warrant.

As he got back into his car, one of the officers shot him dead.

Potter’s resignation letter

Speaking on Monday, April 12, 2021, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said Potter had intended to use a Taser – not a handgun – and described the shooting as an “accidental discharge”.

In a statement on April 13, Potter said: “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 interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately.”

Does Kim Potter have children?

According to the Star Tribune, Potter is married and has two adult sons, however, no information is known of her son’s age or their names.

The former cop is also married to Jeffrey Potter, who was also a police officer who served in the Fridley Police Department in Minnesota for 28 years until his retirement in 2017.

The family reportedly lives in a different Minneapolis suburb.

However, Potter‘s residence is now surrounded by concrete barriers and metal fencing due to the controversy surrounding her arrest.

What does the newly released footage show? continued

In the second, newly released video, Potter appears to be hyperventilating as she said, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

Police Officer Anthony Luckey can be heard saying, “Just breathe,” to which Potter responded, “I’m going to prison.”

Luckey said, “No, you’re not.”

Her partner, Sgt. Mychal Johnson said, “Kim, that guy was trying to take off with me in the car!”

What does the newly released footage show?

Never before seen footage was shown on the first day of the Kimberly Wright trial on December 9.

The footage shows an allegedly distressed Kimberly Potter collapsing to the ground after she fatally shot and killed Daunte Wright.

In one video, Potter is heard saying, “Oh, s***. I shot him. I grabbed the wrong f****** gun.”

Kim Potter cries during trial

Officer Kim Potter broke down in tears on the stand as she recalled the moment Daunte Wright told her “you shot me” at a traffic stop near Minneapolis.

The former Brooklyn Center officer claimed to have mistakenly used a gun instead of a Taser when she fatally shot Wright in April and described the “look of fear” on another officer’s face when trying to keep the 20-year-old from driving away.

“We were struggling. We were trying to keep him from driving away,” Potter said. “It just went chaotic.”

Potter emotionally added: “I remember yelling, ‘Taser, Taser, Taser’ and nothing happened. And then he told me I shot him.”

Potter, 49, was charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Wright on April 11.

What did Potter say in her resignation letter?

Speaking on Monday, April 12, 2021, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said Potter had intended to use a Taser – not a handgun – and described the shooting as an “accidental discharge”.

In a statement on April 13, Potter said: “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 interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately.”

Wright’s parents have refused to accept that their son was killed by “mistake”.

“I lost my son, he’s never coming back,” Wright’s dad, Aubrey Wright, told ABC News.

“I can’t accept that – a mistake, that doesn’t even sound right.

“This officer has been on the force for 26 years. I can’t accept that.”

Does Kim Potter have kids?

According to the Star Tribune, Potter is married and has two adult sons, however, no information is known of her son’s age or their names.

The former cop is also married to Jeffrey Potter, who was also a police officer who served in the Fridley Police Department in Minnesota for 28 years until his retirement in 2017.

The family reportedly lives in a different Minneapolis suburb.

However, Potter‘s residence is now surrounded by concrete barriers and metal fencing due to the controversy surrounding her arrest.

How long could Kim Potter face in prison?

The charges of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter against ex-Minneapolis Police Officer Kim Potter carry a maximum of 10 and 15 years respectively.

Potter was arrested and charged for fatally shooting Wright in April.

Is Kim Potter out on bail?

After being arrested on a second-degree manslaughter charge, ex-police officer Kim Potter was released on bail on April 14, 2021.

The Minnesota cop was released from Hennepin County jail after posting a $100,000 bond, according to jail records.

She was taken into custody and charged that same morning.

Imran Ali, Washington County assistant criminal division chief, said that Potter “abrogated her responsibility to protect the public when she used her firearm rather than her Taser.”

Ali added that the former officer “must be held accountable.”

‘The worst day of my life’

Daunte Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, called April 11, 2021, the day her son was shot dead, the “worst day of my life” during a press conference two days later.

The grieving mother described the phone call she received as he was pulled over and how after he was shot, the woman who was in the passenger seat video-called her.

Answering that call, Katie Wright said she saw her son laying lifeless in the driver’s seat.

“I never imagined this was what was going to happen. I just thought that he was getting arrested,” Wright said.

Was Kim Potter fired after the shooting?

Just two days after the shooting, Kim Potter resigned from her position on April 13, 2021.

Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said Police Chief Tim Gannon also resigned from his position.

When did Kim Potter’s trial begin?

Opening statements in the trial of Kimberly Potter began on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 in the same courtroom where ex-cop Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, according to CNN.

Potter has pleaded not guilty and faces a decade in prison at the minimum if convicted.

Who is Kim Potter?

The Brooklyn Center Police officer who allegedly shot Daunte Wright while trying to use a taser was identified as Kimberly Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force.

Potter, 49, was placed on administrative duty following the shooting.

On April 13, 2021, Potter resigned from her position – two days after the shooting.

She had served as a police officer for 26 years.

Katie Bryant’s testimony, continued

She said she arrived shortly after and saw her son was covered by a white sheet but recognized him because of his tennis shoes.

“I wanted to comfort my baby,” she said to the courtroom.

“I wanted to hold him. I wanted to protect him, because that’s what mothers do.”

Katie Bryant’s testimony

Daunte Wright‘s mother, Katie Bryant, testified that she was on a video call and claims she saw her lifeless son’s body in the driver’s seat.

Bryant said she was on the phone with her son when they lost connection and when she called back, the woman in the passenger’s seat answered and yelled, “They shot him!” before turning the phone toward Wright.

“And my son was laying there,” Bryant said. “He was unresponsive and he looked dead.”

What does the newly released footage show? continued

In the second, newly released video, Potter appears to be hyperventilating as she said, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

Police Officer Anthony Luckey can be heard saying, “Just breathe,” to which Potter responded, “I’m going to prison.”

Luckey said, “No, you’re not.”

Her partner, Sgt. Mychal Johnson said, “Kim, that guy was trying to take off with me in the car!”

What does the newly released footage show?

Never before seen footage was shown on the first day of the Kimberly Wright trial on December 9.

The footage shows an allegedly distressed Kimberly Potter collapsing to the ground after she fatally shot and killed Daunte Wright.

In one video, Potter is heard saying, “Oh, s***. I shot him. I grabbed the wrong f****** gun.”

What did Daunte Wright’s mother say? continued

She told reporters, “All he did was have air fresheners in the car and they told him to get out of the car.”

“He got out of the car and his girlfriend said they shot him.”

“He got back in the car and drove away and crashed and now he was dead on the ground since 1.47.”

“Nobody will tell us anything and nobody will talk to her.”

“I asked them to please take my son off the ground — he’s been there since 1.47 this afternoon.”