The ex-cop who killed Daunte Wright was released from prison at 4 a.m. because officials were worried for her safety

• Ex-cop Kim Potter, who killed Daunte Wright in 2021, was released from prison Monday morning.
• Potter was released at 4 a.m. because officials were concerned for her safety, a spokesperson said.

The ex-cop who killed Daunte Wright was released from prison early on Monday morning, with Minnesota jail officials saying they let her out at 4 a.m. out of concern for her safety.

In April 2021, Potter shot and killed Wright during a traffic stop. Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center police force, argued that she meant to grab her Taser rather than her gun. Wright was unarmed.

Potter was convicted of first and second-degree manslaughter in December 2021.

She was released from her two-year prison sentence on Monday, only serving 16 months in the facility. Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson Andy Skoogman told Insider that's in line with Minnesota's sentencing guidelines, which let people serve the final third of their sentence on "supervised release."

Skoogman said in a statement that jail officials chose the early morning release time based on "information that elevated concern for Ms. Potter's safety, including threatening comments directed at her and the potential for violent protests outside the Shakopee correctional facility."

"Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Ms. Potter, [Department of Corrections] staff, and the security of the correctional facility, the [Department of Corrections] commissioner directed that she be released at 4:00 a.m.," Skoogman said.

"Based on the intelligence we gathered, we released Ms. Potter at a time we felt was safest for her and for everyone at the correctional facility," he added.

Skoogman confirmed Potter will live in Wisconsin for the remainder of her supervised release.