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Ex-police officer Kim Potter sentenced to two years for fatal shooting of Daunte Wright

The former Minneapolis officer says she accidentally fired her firearm at the 20-year-old; she thought she had pulled her Taser.

Published: February 18, 2022 12:11pm

Updated: February 18, 2022 12:36pm

The former Minneapolis police officer who in last year fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.

Potter was convicted in late-2021 of first-and-second degree manslaughter for the April 11 shooting of Wright, who was black.

Potter said she confused her handgun for her Taser during the fatal interaction.

She was sentenced below state guidelines, which is six to eight-and-a-half years behind bars.

Judge Regina Chu decided the sentence after hearing from the Potter and Wright families.

Wright was killed after officers pulled him over for driving with expired license tags and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.

The shooting took place in the midst of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted for the killing of George Floyd, also a black male.

Evidence presented at the trial showed that officers attempted to arrest Wright upon learning that he had an outstanding warrant for a weapons possession charge. It was then that Wright attempted to pull away from the officers and Potter fired what she thought was her Taser. 

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