The second day of the trial for former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter has begun.
Potter was training officer Anthony Luckey at the time of the shooting. Luckey made the decision to pull Daunte Wright, 20, over because he made a left turn from the left lane with his right turn signal on. The car he was driving also had expired license plate tabs and an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.
After officers realized that Wright had a warrant out for his arrest on a gross misdemeanor weapons charge, they attempted to arrest him. A scuffle ensued between Potter and Wright, which led to Potter pulling out her gun and shooting Wright, fatally killing him. Potter immediately can be heard saying “I just shot him… I grabbed the wrong f—ing gun. I shot him.” Potter said she meant to use her taser, not her gun.
Potter, 49, is pleading not guilty to first and second-degree manslaughter charges for negligence while on duty. She can face up to a decade behind bars if convicted.
The Blast covered day one of the trial, which began with opening statements from the defense and the prosecution. Daunte Wright’s mother, Katie Bryant, was the first witness called to the stand. Wright had called her over Facebook Messenger when he was pulled over.
Daunte Wright’s Girlfriend Testifies: ‘He Was Just Gasping’
The prosecution continues its case in the trial of Kimberly Potter this morning. State has called Alayna Albrecht-Payton to the stand, Daunte Wright’s girlfriend who was in the car with him that day @KSTP pic.twitter.com/jgEu4uqpYT
— Kirsten Swanson (@KirstenKSTP) December 9, 2021
Daunte Wright’s girlfriend, Alayna Albrecht-Payton, 20, was in the car at the time of the shooting when Wright was pulled over.
According to her testimony, she tried to get a response from Wright after he was shot, but Wright “wasn’t answering me and he was just gasping.”
She told the jury that she “grabbed whatever was in the car. I don’t remember if it was a sweater or a towel or something… and put it on his chest like you see in movies and TV shows. I didn’t know what to do.”
As Wright’s mother testified yesterday, she tried to call back after the shooting but got no answer. When she called back via FaceTime, Wright’s girlfriend finally answered. She said that he had been shot and panned over to Wright’s unresponsive body in the car.
Yesterday, Bryant testified that a young woman answered the phone saying “They shot him” and pointed the phone to the driver’s side of the vehicle. “My son was laying there, he was unresponsive, and he looked dead,” Bryant recalled.
“I pointed the camera on him,” Albrecht-Payton said today. “And I’m so sorry I did that.”
Other Eyewitnesses Testify, Including Another Officer
Prosecutor Joshua Larson questioning Brooklyn Center officer Alan Douglas Salvosa. pic.twitter.com/4eA4r8YmkU
— Rochelle Olson (@rochelleolson) December 9, 2021
Several eyewitnesses took the stand to testify on Thursday morning, including Brooklyn Center police officer Alan Douglas Salvosa. Salvosa is a 12-year member of the force, a training officer, and a member of the SWAT team who had previously worked with Potter.
Salvosa was on duty when Luckey made the traffic stop and began to drive over to the scene when he witnessed a white Buick crash into a grey Subaru. Salvosa got out of his car, drew his gun, and ordered the occupants inside the Buick to put their hands up.
According to dashcam and bodycam footage from Salvosa, a female passenger can be heard saying, “He’s not breathing.”
Salvosa relays this information over his radio before he yells, “Get out of the car so we can help him.”
At the scene, Salvosa can be seen explaining to other officers that the driver of the Buick had been shot but he was not sure how it had occurred.
