AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa
- Brooklyn Center's police chief said the shooting of Daunte Wright was the result of an "accidental discharge."
- He said the officer who shot Daunte Wright had meant to grab her taser but grabbed her gun instead.
- Daunte was fatally shot during a traffic stop on Sunday.
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The fatal police shooting of a 20-year-old Black man in a Minnesota suburb was the result of an "accidental discharge," the city's police chief said.
Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said at a press conference on Monday that the officer who shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop meant to grab her taser, but grabbed her gun instead and fatally shot Wright.
In body camera footage of the incident, a police officer can be heard saying: "Holy s—. I just shot him."
The officer, whom Gannon described as a "senior officer," has been put on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.
"Our hearts are aching right now, we are in pain right now, and we recognize that this couldn't have happened at a worse time," Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot said at a press conference. "We will get to the bottom of this. We will do all that is within our power to make sure that justice is done for Daunte Wright."
Elliot added that he supports the firing of the officer who killed Wright.
In a statement about the incident on Sunday, Brooklyn Center police said that officers had pulled over Wright for a traffic violation and found he had an outstanding warrant.
Police said officers tried to take Wright into custody, but when Wright tried to get back into his car, an officer at the scene then shot him.
Wright appeared to drive away, according to the body camera footage. He crashed his vehicle several blocks away, police said, and was later pronounced dead.
Wright's mother, Katie Wright, told reporters on Sunday that she received a call from her son before the shooting in which he said police had pulled him over for having an air freshener dangling from his rear-view mirror.
Gannon said during Monday's press conference that officers had stopped Wright over expired lisence plate tags, and later noticed the air freshener.
Wright's death sparked protests in Minnesota, and officials deployed the National Guard and imposed a curfew.