ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota equivalent of the FBI, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, released the name of the police officer in the Brooklyn Center shooting that left a 20-year-old black man dead Sunday. The officer, Kimberly A. Potter, age 48, is white. She has been in police work 26 years, entirely in Brooklyn Center. Potter is president of the Brooklyn Center Police Officers Association. In that role. She has represented other officers involved in deadly shootings. The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is in charge of investigating the shooting,, has placed Potter on administrative leave. Meanwhile, Potter has engaged attorney Earl Gray, who has his own experience in officer-involved shootings. Gray currently is representing ex-Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, who was involved in the deadly arrest of George Floyd in May. Earlier Gray represented St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez, who was acquitted in the 2016 shooting death of Philando Castile in suburban Falcon Heights.
Potter knows ropes
Potter has experience in officer-involved shootings. Records how she was one of the first officers to arrive after police shot and killed Kobe Dimock-Heisler in 2019. She advised the officers during the early stages of the investigation and was present when one officer gave his statement. Those officers were eventually cleared of wrongdoing.