This fatal error is clearly unspeakable and beyond redress. There is no bringing Daunte Wright back.

Inexcusable as they are, these blunders are extremely rare. They are also colorblind—affecting all racial groups (yes, white people, too).

In 2019, a Pennsylvania police officer shot an unarmed white man named Brian Riling during a struggle because the officer believed he was using his Taser, not his gun.
A similar incident occurred in 2018, when Ryan Shane Smith, a white man, was handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser but wouldn't obey officers' orders to pull his legs inside the car. An officer thought he grabbed his Taser but instead pulled his .40-caliber service firearm and shot Smith.
In 2014, a Missouri officer shot a white panhandler, Eric Butts, after accidentally reaching for his gun instead of his taser.

Errors, even fatal errors, are an unfortunate byproduct of being human. Enhanced police training may prevent some of these incidents from occurring, but even the best of us occasionally make mistakes—medical doctors, professional athletes, even cops.

The only surefire way to prevent these incidents is to avoid the actions that precipitate them—committing crime, resisting arrest, and so forth.

...