'I Just Want My Baby Home': Mother Of Daunte Wright Speaks Out Following Brooklyn Center Police Shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- The mother of a 20-year-old Black man, who was shot and killed by Brooklyn Center police during a traffic stop Sunday evening, says her son was shot for "no reason" and that she doesn't want the unrest to overshadow her son's death.
A curfew has now ended in Brooklyn Center and the Minnesota National Guard has been activated a day after Daunte Wright was pulled over for a traffic violation and was later shot after he attempted to drive off, according to police.
RELATED: National Guard Activated After Night Of Looting, Protests In Brooklyn Center
Daunte Wright was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say the officers involved were believed to be wearing activated body cameras at the time of the shooting.
The incident, which occurred just miles from where George Floyd died, resulted in clashes between protesters and police. Looting and unrest also spilled into Minneapolis.
The victim's mother, Katie Wright, spoke to a crowd gathered at the scene of the incident Sunday evening. She said her son had been killed by police. She said Wright's girlfriend was in the car with him at the time of the traffic stop.
Wright's mother said her son called her to say, "Mom, I'm getting pulled over," and, "They're asking about insurance." She said she then heard officers telling him to get out of the car. When he asked why, officers told him they would explain once he got out of the vehicle. She said officers then told him to put his phone down, and then she heard someone telling her son not to run. She then said an officer ended his call.
RELATED: Protesters Clash With Police In Brooklyn Center After Deadly Officer-Involved Shooting
"I just want people to know that if you get pulled over, make sure you put your hands up and don't make any sudden moves, and don't have air fresheners in your car because that's why he got pulled over. And he was only 20 years old and he didn't deserve to be shot and killed like this," Wright said. "And I don't want all of this, all of this. I just want my baby home. That's all I want is I want him to be home. I don't want everybody out here chanting and screaming, yelling, I just want him home, that's it."
Wright says she doesn't want the unrest to overshadow the death of her son.
"All the violence, if it keeps going it's only going to be about the violence. We need it to be about why my son got shot for no reason," she said. "We need to make sure it's about him and not about smashing police cars, because that's not going to bring my son back."
The account of the shooting from Wright's family differed, with Katie Wright saying he was shot before getting back into the car.
Police said the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office will release the person's name following a preliminary autopsy and family notification. A female passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the crash.
About 20 businesses had been broken into at the city's Shingle Creek Crossing shopping center, Minnesota Department of Public Safety commissioner John Harrington said. Law enforcement agencies were coordinating to tame the unrest, he said, and the National Guard was activated.
Brooklyn Center is a city of about 30,000 people located on the northwest border of Minneapolis.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
