According to the Star Tribune, the former officer was released at 4 a.m. Monday. She served 16 months of a two-year sentence and will do the remaining eight months on supervised release.

 

Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson Andy Skoogman explained the decision to release Potter stemmed from her compromised safety in prison.

“Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Ms. Potter, [Department of Corrections] staff and the security of the correctional facility, the DOC commissioner [Paul Schnell] directed that she be released at 4 a.m.,” a statement from Skoogman read.

Skoogman added DOC analysts looked closely at intelligence information leading up to Potter’s release. In that analysis, they found an “elevated concern for Ms. Potter’s safety, including threatening comments directed at her and the potential for violent protests outside the Shakopee correctional facility.”

Because of that information and questions about Potter’s well-being, Skoogman wrote, “We released Ms. Potter at a time we felt was safest for her and for everyone at the correctional facility.”

No protesters, nor family members of Wright, were outside the facility when Potter was released.

According to ABC News, Potter was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter following the April 2021 incident. She pleaded not guilty to both charges and was sentenced to 24 months in prison last year. She was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,000.

Potter’s sentence was much lower than the maximum for both charges. For first-degree manslaughter, the maximum penalty is 15 years and a $30,000 fine. And for second-degree manslaughter, it’s 10 years and a $20,000 fine.

Though Potter’s nightmare is nearing its end, the Wright family’s is not.

“Her incarceration was just a moment in time,” Katie Wright, the 20-year-old shooting victim’s mother, told the Star Tribune. “She cursed us with a forever life sentence.”

 

Potter’s attorneys, Earl Gray and Paul Engh, have not commented on the 50-year-old’s release.