(Photo by STORMI GREENER/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
- Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by police in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Sunday.
- Bodycam footage shows officer Kimberly A. Potter shouting "Taser" several times before firing her gun.
- But right-handed police officers are trained to carry their Taser on the opposite side of their belt.
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According to Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon, the officer who shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop was trained to carry her sidearm on the right side of her duty belt and her Taser on the left.
"We train with our handguns on our dominant side and our Taser on our weak side," he said at a press conference on Sunday, adding, "if you're right-handed, you carry your firearm on your right side, and you carry your Taser on the left. This is done purposefully, and it's trained."
Gannon characterized the shooting as an "accidental discharge."
"As I watched the video and listened to the officer's commands," Gannon said, "it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet."
But the officer accused of killing Wright, Kimberly A. Potter, 48, was a 26-year-veteran of the force. So how could she confuse the two weapons, which have vastly different placement and weight on a duty belt?
The Glock 22, a .40 caliber sidearm preferred by most police agencies across the country, weighs a little more than two pounds with a standard magazine of 15 bullets.
By contrast, a Taser weighs eight ounces.
In addition to the vastly different weight and placement, police Tasers are often yellow. This appears to be the case with at least one of the officers who can be seen in the video from Potter's bodycam footage, as a yellow taser can clearly be seen on the left side of his belt.
A Glock has a sophisticated safety system that prevents accidental discharge. The safety for a Glock 22 is located on the weapon's trigger.
A Taser also has a safety; it is located on the upper rear left of the weapon's barrel.
Experts say it has happened in the past, though it is a rare occurrence. According to a 2012 Associated Press report, there were "nine cases in which officers shot suspects with handguns when they said they meant to fire stun guns dating back to 2001."
Gannon said he believed that Potter had intended to fire her Taser. In the video, she can be heard shouting, "I'll tase you! I'll tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!" which is standard police procedure to warn both perpetrators and other officers that a stun gun will be fired.
After firing her sidearm, Potter can be heard saying, "Holy s--t. I just shot him."
"As I watch the video and listen to the officer's commands, it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet," Gannon said at the press conference.
Potter has been placed on standard administrative leave.
When reached for comment regarding standard police equipment, Hennepin County dispatchers told Insider to call back on Thursday.