Man Shot, Killed During Brooklyn Center Traffic Stop Sparks Unrest

BROOKLYN CENTER (AP) -- A Brooklyn Center officer fatally shooting a 20-year-old black man during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon sparked clashes with police and looting in that community and elsewhere around the metro area.

Governor Tim Walz tweeted he was "closely monitoring the situation" and "praying for Daunte Wright's family as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement."

Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott issued a curfew order through 6 a-m Monday.

Brooklyn Center police say officers pulled over a vehicle for a traffic violation just before 2 p-m Sunday. There was a warrant on the driver, who got back into the vehicle as officers were trying to arrest him. Police say that's when an officer discharged a weapon, striking the driver, who was pronounced dead several blocks away after crashing into another vehicle.

State Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington says a crowd of 100 to 200 marched to Brooklyn Center police headquarters -- rocks were thrown at the building and there were reports of shots fired in the area:

"Within hours of that, a secondary group we heard was at the Shingle Creek mall or business center, and we have reports of approximately 20 businesses that were broken into."

There were also reports of looting along Broadway and Lowry in north Minneapolis, plus unconfirmed reports of looting of businesses along Lake Street and in the Uptown area.

The death comes as nearby Minneapolis is already on edge and midway through the trial of the first of four police officers in George Floyd's death.

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