Sept. 2, 2021
Welcome to the Thursday edition of MPR News p.m. update. Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, will face an additional, tougher criminal charge in the killing. Attorney General Keith Ellison's office says Potter is being charged with first-degree manslaughter along with the original charge of second-degree manslaughter. Police bodycam footage from April shows Potter yelling "Taser" but pulling her handgun and shooting the 20-year-old Wright. The new charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, up from 10 on the previous count. Minnesota today recorded a double-digit COVID-19 death toll — the highest since May. Almost all of the 22 deaths reported today occurred in late August. MPR News data reporter David Montgomery says it might be an anomaly but is worth watching amid the recent case spike. Minnesota’s case growth has slowed in recent weeks, but events such as the State Fair and the start of school could affect that trajectory. A 33-year-old Chicago man is facing murder charges for a shooting after an apparent traffic altercation on a highway in Plymouth, Minn., that killed a man driving his son home from a baseball game in July. Jay Boughton was shot and died after his car crashed in a roadside parking lot in Plymouth. Police said an eight-week manhunt for Boughton’s killer ended with an arrest in Decatur, Ill., last week. Subscribe to our Minnesota Today podcast to get up-to-date Minnesota news twice daily. — Tim Nelson, MPR News | 