Daunte Wright’s parents openly dispute the official account given by a Minnesota police chief about how and why their son was shot and killed on Sunday, April 11, 2021.
As rolling out has reported, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said the fatal shooting was the result of an “accidental discharge” of former officer Kim Potter’s weapon when she supposedly intended to fire her stun gun at Wright.
The parents pushed back against that narrative during their virtual visit Tuesday, April 13, with “Good Morning America.”
“That doesn’t even sound right. This officer has been on the force for 26 years. I can’t accept that,” Daunte Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright, told “Good Morning America” co-host Robin Roberts.
“I lost my son, he’s never coming back,” the father added.
Daunte Wright, 20, reportedly was driving with expired tags in Brooklyn Center, a suburb about 10 miles northwest of Minneapolis. The cops quickly ascertained that he was wanted on a gross misdemeanor warrant and proceeded to arrest him.
As authorities tried to place Wright in handcuffs, he quickly wrestled away and jumped back into the car to flee. Potter, who was the third officer on the scene, allegedly intended to fire her stun gun and “accidentally” shot Wright with her firearm, Gannon said at the Monday press conference.
Both Gannon and Potter have since resigned from the police force, and Potter is under investigation by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
Daunte’s mother Katie Wright told “GMA” that she doesn’t know why matters quickly escalated.
“I know my son was scared. He’s afraid of the police, and I just seen and heard the fear in his voice. But I don’t know why, and it should have never escalated the way it did,” Katie Wright said.
“He had a 2-year-old son that’s not going to be able to play basketball with him. He had sisters and brothers that he loved so much,” she added. “He just had his whole life taken away from him. We had our hearts pulled out of our chests. He was my baby.”
Flip the page to view the interview in full on “Good Morning America.”
