Killer officer under fire

Cop who shot Aussie woman subject of complaint

THE devastated fiance of Sydney life coach Justine Damond said yesterday he still had no idea what happened in her final moments as it emerged the police officer who shot her dead was the subject of at least one excessive force complaint.

Officer Mohamed Noor had been publicly celebrated as the first Somali-American officer in his inner city Minneapolis precinct when he began duty two years ago.

But on Saturday night at 11.30pm, something made him open fire on pyjama-clad Ms Damond, 40, in a driveway near her middle-class, innercity bungalow.

The Minneapolis medical examiner yesterday ruled she died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The killing was listed as a homicide.

Her fiance, whom she was to wed within weeks, said Ms Damond called police for help after hearing a woman being attacked in the alley outside their home.

“It was Justine who called 911 on Saturday evening, reporting what she believed was an active sexual assault occurring nearby,” Mr Damond said yesterday.

“Sadly our family and I have been provided with absolutely no additional information from law enforcement regarding what happened after police ar- rived. We’ve lost the dearest of people and we are desperate for information.”

Ms Damond’s father John Ruszczyk called for justice for his daughter.

“We only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death,” an emotional Mr Ruszczyk said outside his family home in Freshwater on Sydney’s northern beaches

“We thought yesterday was our worst nightmare. But we awoke to the ugly truth, and it hurt even more.”

Officer Noor offered his condolences to Ms Damond’s family in a statement released by his lawyer as it emerged he was the subject of at least one and possibly three formal complaints.

“He takes their loss seriously and keeps them (the family) in his daily thoughts and prayers,” the statement said.

“The current environment for police is difficult, but Officer Noor accepts this as part of his calling. We would like to say more, and will in the future.”

Noor was this year sued by a woman who alleged excessive force in an incident on May 25. Court records show the woman said Noor was among officers who mistreated her while she was on a mental health order.

Local TV station KSTP reported Noor was the subject of three complaints, one having been dismissed and the other two pending.