Relatives demand answers in fatal police shooting

MINNEAPOLIS — Relatives and neighbors of an Australian woman who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police over the weekend demanded answers Monday about her death, with one calling the shooting of the meditation teacher and bride-to-be “an execution.”

Details about what led to the shooting remained unclear, with authorities saying only that officers were responding to a 911 call about a possible assault when she was killed.

The woman’s family members released a statement Monday through Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, saying they “are trying to come to terms with this tragedy and to understand why this has happened.”

Minneapolis authorities have not released the woman’s name. The Star Tribune identified her as Justine Damond, 40, from Sydney, Australia. The newspaper reported that she was engaged to be married and had already taken her fiance’s last name. Her maiden name was Justine Ruszczyk.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released a statement Sunday saying two Minneapolis officers responded to the call late Saturday. At some point, an officer fired a gun, hitting Damond. The BCA said Monday that no weapons were found at the scene.

Local media identified the officer who fired his weapon as Mohamed Noor, who is a Somali-American.

His attorney, Tom Plunkett, released a statement to Minneapolis television station WCCO saying: “We take this seriously with great compassion for all persons who are being touched by this.” Plunkett did not return messages left by The Associated Press.

According to a city newsletter, Noor joined the police department in March 2015.

The Star Tribune, citing three people with knowledge of the shooting it did not name, said Damond had been the one to call 911 about a possible assault in the alley behind her house.

The three people said two officers pulled into the alley in a single squad car. Damond, wearing pajamas, stood at the driver’s side door and talked to the driver. The newspaper’s sources said the officer in the passenger seat shot Damond through the driver’s side door.