Walz orders wide curfew following killing of Daunte Wright

Cloudy tonight with a chance of more rain showers. Lows in the mid-20s to lower 30s. There’s a winter weather advisory for northwest Minnesota. For Tuesday, more clouds, with a chance for snow showers around the state. Snow accumulation of up to 4 inches is possible. Highs in the mid-30s to lower 40s. Get the latest from Updraft.

Gov. Tim Walz has ordered a curfew for three Twin Cities-area counties — Hennepin, Ramsey and Anoka — starting at 7 p.m. tonight to help keep the peace following news of another fatal police shooting.

Brooklyn Park Police Chief Tim Gannon said the officer who shot a 20-year-old Black man after a traffic stop Sunday did not mean to draw her gun. Rather, the officer intended to use her Taser to stun Daunte Wright. Wright died a short time after.

"This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officer's reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright," the police chief said Monday.

Gannon said the officer is on administrative leave and the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is leading the investigation. Activists are demanding that the officer be identified and fired.

News of Wright’s killing also prompted the attorney for Derek Chauvin to ask the judge in the trial, which entered its third week of testimony Monday, to sequester the jury.

Defense attorney Eric Nelson said seeing media coverage of the unrest in Brooklyn Center might make jury members feel pressure to convict Chauvin.

"I understand it's not this case. I understand that it does involve these same parties." Nelson said. "But, the problem is that the emotional response that that case creates sets the stage for a jury to say 'I'm not going to vote not guilty because I'm concerned about the outcome."

Judge Peter Cahill denied the motion. The judge says he will sequester jurors starting next Monday when he expects closing arguments in the Chauvin trial to begin.

In COVID-19 news, Minnesota reported 1,994 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases Monday, and two additional deaths.

But as case counts continue to grow, so do the number of vaccines issued statewide. More than 2 million people in Minnesota now have at least one vaccine dose. That's 47 percent of eligible people, 16 and older. 1.4 million people in the state have completed their vaccine series.