Minn. mom describes talking to son before shooting

The mother of a Black man who was fatally shot by police in a Minneapolis suburb during a traffic stop said she spoke to her son just before his death. Daunte Wright's killing has sparked violent protests as officers clashed with demonstrators. (April 12)

Video Transcript

KATIE WRIGHT: He called me at about 1:40 PM, said he was getting pulled over by the police. And I said, well, why did you get pulled over? He said they pulled him over because he had air fresheners hanging from the rear view mirror. I said, OK, take them down. And he said, Mom, they want to know about insurance. I said, I said, I will, when the police officer comes back to the window, put them on the phone and I will give them the insurance information. Then I heard the police officer come to the window and say, put the phone down and get out of the car. And Daunte said, why? And he said, we'll explain to you when you get out of the car.

So I heard the phone get either put on the dashboard or dropped. And I heard scuffling. And I heard the police officer say, Daunte, don't run. And then the other officer said, put the phone down, and hung it up. And then like a minute later, I called and his girlfriend answered, which was the passenger in the car, and said that he'd been shot. And she put it on the driver's side. And my son was laying there lifeless. And then I said, where are you? And she said, I don't know. And the other officer said, hang up the phone. She hung up the phone and I called 911 to find out where they were. Then I get here, and there's a car accident and my son's laying on the ground.

And he was only 20 years old. He didn't deserve to be shot and killed [? for ?] [? this. ?] And I don't want all of this, all of this. I just want my baby home. That's all I want. I just want him to be home. I don't want everybody out here, chanting and screaming and yelling. I just want him home. That's it.