(Daily Caller News Foundation) — The father of a man fatally shot by Minnesota police said Tuesday that he cannot accept claims that the officer mistakenly used a gun rather than a taser.
Aubrey and Katie Wright joined “Good Morning America” after a police officer shot their son, Daunte Wright, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on Sunday during an arrest attempt. Aubrey said he cannot accept the Brooklyn Center Police Department’s statements that the officer meant to use a taser rather than a gun.
“I cannot accept that. I lost my son,” Wright said. “He’s never coming back. I can’t accept that’s a mistake, that doesn’t even sound right.”
Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said at a press conference Monday that he believed the officer meant to shoot with her taser rather than her gun. Body cam footage played at the conference shows three officers pulling Wright over for expired tags and attempting to arrest him after realizing they had a warrant for his arrest.
Wright said the officer has had over two decades of experience, making it unlikely that she made a mistake. Katie Wright added that she wants justice to be served.
“I would like to see justice served and her [the officer] held accountable for everything she has taken from us,” she said.
Katie Wright told Good Morning America that she spoke to her son on the phone when the police pulled him over.
“I heard scuffling, and the girl that was with him screaming, and I heard an officer ask for them to hang up the phone, and then I didn’t hear anything else,” she said. “I tried to call back three, four times, and then the girl that was with him answered the phone, and she said that they shot him, and he was laying in the driver’s seat, unresponsive.”
Wright described the fear in her son’s voice while stopped by the police. She added the shooting never should have occurred.
“I know my son was scared. He’s afraid of police, I just seen and heard the fear in his voice but I don’t know why. And It should have never, ever escalated the way it did.”
The Wright family attorney, Ben Crump, said the shooting of Wright is a result of bias against black Americans rather than poor training.
“It is not about training, it’s about implicit bias. It’s about giving the same respect and consideration to people of color,” Crump said.
The shooting sparked protests and riots in Minneapolis. Katie expressed her gratitude for the protesters’ support but believes they should remain peaceful.
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