Daunte Wright was involved in two separate shootings before he was killed, lawsuits say

Daunte Wright, the black man shot dead by a white police officer in Minneapolis, has been accused of being involved in two separate shooting incidents before he was killed.

The new allegations against the 20-year-old black man have emerged just two months after he was fatally shot by Brooklyn Center cop Kim Potter during an April traffic stop. 

Potter, who resigned days after the shooting and is charged with second-degree manslaughter, allegedly mixed up her Taser and her handgun when she opened fire on Wright. 

In the days after he was killed, it was revealed that Wright had a warrant out for his arrest at the time and had previously appeared in court for attempted aggravated robbery charges after he allegedly choked and held a woman at gunpoint for $820 in 2019.

Now, allegations have surfaced in two different lawsuits that Wright was allegedly involving in the shooting of two men, including one that left the victim permanently disabled and another that occurred just three weeks before his death. 

Wright was not charged in either shooting incident. 

The latest lawsuit was filed on Tuesday and alleges that Wright was one of two men involved in a carjacking on March 21 that left the victim, Joshua Hodges, with a gunshot wound to his leg. 

Hodges allegedly recognized Wright because they had gone to the same high school.  

According to the lawsuit, Wright and the other man approached Hodges while he was sitting in his car. 

The other man opened his car door and shot Hodges in the leg. Wright then leaned in and allegedly assaulted him before stealing the victim’s wallet and cellphone. 

Wright allegedly then stole the victim’s car.  

The lawsuit says Hodges spent two weeks in hospital recovering due to his gunshot wound injuries. 

The second lawsuit was filed last month in relation to the shooting of Caleb Livingston back in May 2019, which alleges that Wright shot the then-teenager in the head and left him permanently disabled. 

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Livingston’s mother, Jennifer LeMay.

LeMay claims her son, who is now 18, was once friends with Wright but they had a ‘falling out’. The lawsuit alleges that it came to a head after her son beat up Wright in front of a group. Wright allegedly retaliated by shooting Livingston outside a gas station in Minneapolis.  

The lawsuit says the shooting is still an open investigation. 

The same lawyer has filed both lawsuits, which are each seeking $50,000 from Wright’s estate.  

Wright’s death sparked days of unrest in Minneapolis at a time when fired cop Derek Chauvin was standing trial for the murder of George Floyd.

A number of high-profile Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota attended his funeral.