Kim Potter, the ex-police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, broke down on the stand Friday — apologizing and insisting she “didn’t want to hurt anybody.”
The former Minnesota police officer mistook her firearm for her taser when she fatally shot Wright during a traffic stop near Minneapolis in April.
A prosecutor asked Potter about her behavior moments after the fatal shooting, she replied saying she was “very distraught.” “I just shot somebody. I’m sorry it happened. I’m so sorry,” Potter cried.
The video of the incident recorder her shouting “I’ll tase you!” and “Taser, Taser. Taser!”
While testifying on Friday, Potter said she was not formally trained on what weapon confusion was. “It would be mentioned in training but not something we would be physically trained on,” she said.
Potter testified that field officer Anthony Luckey wanted to stop Wright’s car due to his expired tag and an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.
Sergeant Mychal Johnson arrived for assistance upon pulling over the vehicle over. The officers asked for Wright’s driver’s license and found he had a suspended driver’s license, bench warrant for weapons and protection order, and gross misdemeanor.
According to Potter, the plan was for officer Luckey to get the driver into custody for the warrant for them to further investigate.
She told prosecutors that she did not plan to use deadly force that day. “I was very distraught. I just shot somebody and I had never done that,” she said. I didn’t want to hurt anybody.”
