Daunte Wright: Police Kill Man In Suburb Just Miles Away From Where George Floyd Died

Daunte Wright was fatally shot by police in the city of Brooklyn Center — around 11 miles away from where George Floyd was killed.

As the one-year anniversary of George Floyd‘s death approaches next month, yet another Black man was killed by police in Minnesota over the weekend.

Twenty-year-old Daunte Wright was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center on Sunday afternoon, according to the New York Times. In the report, the Brooklyn Center Police Department’s Chief Tim Gannon said that an officer had shot Wright after pulling his car over for a traffic violation, where he then discovered that the driver had a warrant out for his arrest. As the police tried to detain Wright, he stepped back into his car, and the cop proceeded to shoot him.

Wright’s car then traveled for several blocks before striking another car, where he was pronounced dead. As Newsweek noted in a separate report, Wright’s death happened just approximately 11 miles away from where George Floyd was killed. Wright’s death comes amid the trial of Derek Chauvin, the ex-cop who killed Floyd last year on May 25. Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter for Floyd’s death.

Following Wright’s killing, people took to the Brooklyn Center Police Department to protest his death. Amid the protests, Mayor Mike Elliott ordered a curfew until 6 a.m. By midnight, most of the protesters had left the police department.

Elliott also addressed the shooting via Twitter early Monday morning, saying in one tweet: “Our entire community is filled with grief following today’s officer-involved shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20 year old young man. Our hearts are with his family, and with all those in our community impacted by this tragedy…”

“We are going to make sure that everything is done in our power to ensure that justice is done,” he said in a video.

During a news conference on Monday, Gannon referred to the shooting as “an accidental discharge,” saying that the officer who fatally shot Wright had meant to fire her taser, and not her handgun. Bodycam footage released of the incident includes the officer shouting “Taser” a few times, only to say moments later, “Holy (expletive)! I shot him” after realizing she shot him with her handgun. Gannon didn’t say if the officer will be fired or not after an investigation takes place.