City manager 'relieved of his duties' after fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright

Brooklyn Center City Manager Curt Boganey speaks during a press conference about the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright at the Brooklyn Center police headquarters on April 12, 2021 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon referred to the incident as an "accidental discharge" and that the officer who shot and killed Wright meant to grab their Taser.

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

• The city manager of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, was fired Monday evening.
• Mayor Mike Elliott announced the move on Twitter.
• It comes after a police officer fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop.
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The person who oversees Brooklyn Center's day-to-day government operations was fired Monday, a day after police in the Minnesota city shot and killed a young Black man during a traffic stop.

"Effective immediately our city manager has been relieved of his duties," Mayor Mike Elliott announced on Twitter.

On Sunday, a police officer in Brooklyn Center shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright in what their superiors insist is an accident. Body camera footage of the incident shows Wright scuffling with police and getting back into his car, at which point an officer can be heard shouting "Taser! Taser! Taser!"

Moments later, that same voice can be heard saying, "Holy s--t. I just shot him."

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office said Monday that Wright died from a gunshot wound to the chest, ruling his death a "homicide."

-Mayor Mike Elliott (@mayor_elliott) April 12, 2021

Earlier in the day, Brooklyn Center City Manager Curt Boganey, amid calls to fire the officer who pulled the trigger, said all employees of the city are entitled to "due process with respect to discipline."

"This employee will receive due process," he said, "and that's really all I can say today."

He was removed from his position soon after. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, city council members also voted 3-2 to hand the former city manager's authority over the police department to the mayor.

Wright's killing comes at a particularly fraught time, as less than 20 minutes away, jurors hear testimony in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with killing George Floyd in Minneapolis last year.

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