WASHINGTON, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Kim Potter, a veteran female police officer who fatally shot 20-year-old Black man Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, U.S. state Minnesota, resigned on Tuesday, along with the city's police chief.
"I am tendering my resignation from the Brooklyn Center Police Department effective immediately," Potter, 48, said in a letter obtained by local media outlets.
"I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and to my fellow officers if I resign immediately," Potter said.
Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon has also resigned, Mayor Mike Elliott said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
However, the mayor said he has not accepted Potter's resignation yet, adding his office is still reviewing the letter. Potter has been put on administrative leave after the shooting.
Gannon told reporters on Monday that Potter mistakenly used her gun instead of her taser at the time and based on his experience and training, the Sunday shooting leading to the death of Wright seemed to be an "accidental discharge."
"No conclusions should be made until the investigation is complete," the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association said in a statement released earlier on Tuesday, calling for protests to be peaceful.
Wright's family is not "prepared to say that that was an accident," their attorney Jeffrey Storms told CNN on Tuesday.
Another attorney for Wright's family, Ben Crump, on Tuesday called the shooting "entirely preventable" and "inhumane."
Protesters defied a curfew and took to the streets for a second night on Monday following Wright's death. Police fired tear gas and stun guns to disperse protesters while some of the latter threw "bottles, fireworks, bricks and other projectiles at public safety officials," according to a tweet from Operation Safety Net.
Brooklyn Center, a city of about 31,000, is just a few miles away from Minneapolis, where the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin over black man George Floyd's death in May 2020 is underway.
"We will fight for justice for this family, just like we're fighting for our brother," Philonise Floyd said on Tuesday, extending his family's condolences to the family of Wright. Enditem
