Police Officer Called Out The Officer That Mistook Gun For Taser And Prompted Discussion

Even when it comes to the same field of expertise, everyone has different ways to perceive how a job should be done. But one experienced police officer thought that the death of the 20-year-old African American man, Daunte Wright, from Minnesota could have been easily avoided.

The police officer shouted “taser,” but she’d launched a bullet right into his chest.

The man was declared dead on April 11, 2021, due to a gunshot wound to the chest. Chief Tim Gannon of the Brooklyn Center Police Department explained that the man had an arrest warrant after he was stopped for a traffic violation.

But a scuffle broke out between the two officers and Wright, during which the latter tried to get back into his car swiftly. The officer’s bodycam footage showed she was holding a gun in her hand, yet, shouted “taser.” While they were driving away to chase after him, she finally said, “I just shot him.”

This is what the chief said about it: “It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet.”

“Dominant. Not so dominant,” a police officer explained that it’s not that easy to get into a mix-up between taking out your taser and gun.

Identified as Officer Brian B. with 12 years experience in law enforcement, the TikTok video went viral and was later shared on different platforms. He addresses how experienced officers are trained not to take out their guns or tasers all the time and wouldn’t be able to confuse between the two that easily.

How did you mistook these two equipment?

You’re very likely to encounter highly stressful situation: it is part of the job!

Here’s a suggestion: have you tried talking?

The video received more than 6 million views on the platform before it, along with Brian’s user profile, was gone from the platform. A heated debate was ignited under the video.

Qasim Rahid who later reshared the video after a follower sent him it openly agreed to the officer’s opinion. In a long Facebook rant, he wrote, “Every bit of this murder is reckless and inexcusable.”

“First, it was not accidental, it was deliberate,” he continued. “Accidental is “oops I shot myself in the foot.” This was a *negligent* shooting of an unarmed non-violent civilian.”

“Officers are trained for this, and this officer was negligent to confuse a bright yellow taser for a black service weapon. This was her negligence, compounded upon a bogus reason to stop someone in the first place.”

“Enough victim-blaming. Marijuana and allegedly running are not excuses to kill an unarmed civilian,” he firmly concluded.