Washington County attorney says charges likely Wednesday in Wright shooting

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 at least the third time that a U.S. law enforcement officer would face criminal charges for killing someone in what they claim or what appears to be a mix-up between a gun and a 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. 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 2013 movie "Fruitvale Station."

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 of 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 N. 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.

Staff writer Erin Adler contributed to this report.

Matt McKinney • 612-673-7329