Cop charged with murder
AUSTRALIAN life coach Justine Damond put her hands on the bullet wound on the left side of her stomach and said “I’m dying” just moments after a Minneapolis police officer shot her, according to the prosecutor who announced murder and manslaughter charges against Mohamed Noor.
Officer Noor turned himself in to authorities yesterday after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He was booked into Hennepin County jail with bail set at $650,000 and is expected to appear in court today.
Officer Noor’s lawyer, Tom Plunkett, maintained his client was innocent. “The facts will show that Officer Noor acted as he has been trained and consistent with established departmental policy,” he said.
Minneapolis’ prosecutor, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, told a different story yesterday as he announced Officer Noor had been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter counts.
“There is no evidence Noor encountered a threat, appreciated a threat, investigated a threat or confirmed a threat that justified his decision to use deadly force,” he said. “Instead, Officer Noor recklessly and intentionally fired his hand gun from the passenger seat in disregard for human life.”
Mr Freeman described how Officer Noor and his partner, Officer Matthew Harrity, responded to Ms Damond’s 911 call about a potential sexual assault in an alley behind her Minneapolis home just before midnight on July 15 last year.
Ms Damond, 40, originally from Sydney, had heard what she though were a woman’s screams.
The two officers pulled up in the alley, did not see anything and prepared to leave, the prosecutor said.
Officer Harrity allegedly then heard a muffled voice or whisper, “a thump” behind him on the squad car and caught a glimpse of a person’s head and shoulders outside the driver’s side door.
“Harrity saw no weapons,” Mr Freeman said. “However Harrity claimed he was startled, took his gun out of his holster and held it against his rib cage pointing downward.”
Mr Freeman said Officer Noor reached across Officer Harrity and shot Ms Damond.
“Office Harrity then looked out his window and saw a woman.
“Justine Ruszczyk (Damond) had put her hands on the wound on the left side of her abdomen and said ‘ I’m dying’ or ‘I’m dead’.” The officers turned on their bodycams after the shooting and attempted to resuscitate Ms Damond but were not successful.
Ms Damond’s family is pleased justice may be served.
“We remain hopeful that a strong case will be presented by the prosecutor, backed by verified and detailed forensic evidence, and that this will lead to a conviction,” Damond’s fiance Don and her Sydneybased father John Ruszczyk and other family members said in a joint statement.