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Brooklyn Center to pay Daunte Wright's family $3.25 million to settle wrongful death lawsuit

The City of Brooklyn Center has agreed to pay a $3.25 million settlement to the family of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man fatally shot by a white police officer during a traffic stop, it was announced Tuesday.

Driving the news: The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit following the April 2021 shooting near Minneapolis by former police officer Kim Potter, who's serving a two-year prison sentence after being convicted of manslaughter.


Yes, but: "The settlement will not be finalized until an agreement is also reached on substantial and meaningful non-monetary relief," attorneys for Wright's family said in a statement to news outlets.

What to watch: "The legal team anticipates that relief will include training for the city's police department on officer intervention, implicit bias, weapons confusion, de-escalation and mental health crises," according to the attorneys' statement.

The big picture: Last December, Potter was found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter. Her attorney argued the veteran officer inadvertently pulled out her gun instead of a Taser after Wright tried to flee the encounter.

What they're saying: "Nothing can explain or fill the emptiness in our lives without Daunte or our continued grief at the senseless way he died," said Wright's parents, Katie and Arbuey Wright, in a statement via their attorneys to news outlets.

  • "But in his name, we will move forward, and it was important to us that his loss be used for positive change in the community, not just for a financial settlement for our family," they added.
"We hope Black families, people of color, and all residents feel safer now in Brooklyn Center because of the changes the city must make to resolve our claims."
Katie Wright and Arbuey Wright

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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