This bride-to-be called 911 for help, but she was killed by police instead
Community shaken following the officer-involved shooting of Minneapolis yoga teacher
MINNEAPOLIS— Justine Damond called police after hearing a sound in an alley near the home she shared with her fiancé late Saturday night. But shortly after two officers arrived in her upscale Minneapolis neighbourhood to investigate, the call turned deadly when one of the officers shot Damond.
It is unclear why the officer opened fire on Damond, a 40-year-old yoga and meditation teacher from Australia who was supposed to wed next month, and her death immediately drew renewed scrutiny of police officers in the Twin Cities area for their use of deadly force.
Minneapolis is still reeling from two controversial police-involved shootings that set off waves of heated protests and prompted nationwide calls for officers to wear body cameras. One of the cases in recent weeks again led to rallies and condemnation when an officer who shot a black man during a traffic stop was acquitted.
Damond’s death, one of more than 500 fatal shootings by police in the United States this year, also has raised serious concerns in her home country. News of Damond’s death was splashed across the websites of major news outlets in Australia, where friends, according to media reports, are demanding a federal investigation.
Investigators remained tightlipped Monday about what happened at 11:30 p.m. Saturday, when police received a 911 call about a possible assault in the alley behind Damond’s home. Neither of the responding officers had turned on their body cameras and police have not yet said why one of the officers shot her. The squad car camera did not capture the incident, either.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the state agency investigating the shooting, has said only that “at one point,” one of the officers fired a weapon and struck Damond. No weapons were found at the scene.
Investigators are looking into whether other video of the shooting exists, the BCA statement said. When the state investigation is completed, the results will be given to the office of Hennepin County Attorney Michael O. Freeman for review. A spokesperson for Freeman declined to comment Monday.
All Minneapolis police officers have worn body cameras since the end of 2016, according to the city, a policy decision that was announced last July, after a black motorist named Philando Castile, a local school worker who was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Twin Cities area. A dashcam video showed an officer shooting numerous times into Castile’s car but did not show what was happening inside the vehicle; the officer in that case said he believed Castile had been going for a weapon, an account Castile’s girlfriend, who was in the passenger seat, has long disputed.
Authorities said the officers involved in Damond’s shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure. A spokesperson for the Minneapolis Police Department said a formal review is always conducted in cases of officer-involved shootings.
Three people “with knowledge of the incident” told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the responding officers pulled into the alley behind Damond’s home. The woman, wearing pyjamas, approached the driver’s side door and was talking to the driver, the newspaper reported. The officer in the passenger seat then shot Damond through the driver’s side door, the three people told the newspaper.
When asked about the Star Tribune report, Jill Oliveira, spokesperson for the BCA, said only that the investigation is in its early stages and that the state agency will provide information as it becomes available. The audio of the 911 call also is not available publicly.
State investigators say they will provide more information on the shooting after agents interview the officers involved — something that had not happened as of Monday afternoon, according to the BCA. Agents have requested interviews with the officers, who are working with their attorneys to schedule them, the state agency said.
Janeé Harteau, the Minneapolis police chief, called the shooting “clearly a tragic death” and said she echoed the uncertainty reverberating through the community.
“I also want to assure you that I understand why so many people have so many questions at this point,” Harteau said in a statement Monday. “I have many of the same questions and that is why we immediately asked for an external and independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting death.”
The scant details have left city officials, and Damond’s family, friends and neighbours in Minneapolis shocked and confused about the circumstances that led to her death.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Damond’s stepson-to-be, Zach, said softly and through tears. “I just want to have a conversation with that man.”
Asked what he would say to the police officer: “Why? Why did you do it? He has no idea the impact he had on thousands of people. I hope he thinks about that every day.”
As Zach Damond was out watering plants Monday, neighbours came by to hug him and offer help.
The end of the alley where Justine Damond was shot is covered in chalk messages. Flowers, candles, cards and photographs line a ledge along a backyard fence. A steady trickle of people have walked by, paying their respects, writing messages and leaving pamphlets for the community centre where she worked.
The shooting over the weekend again has fuelled distrust of law enforcement among Minneapolis residents. Lois and John Rafferty said they’d be reluctant to call the police for help and wouldn’t go outside to talk to them if they did call. “How many people have to get shot?” John Rafferty said. “You can walk your dog at midnight around here. Minneapolis is not Syria.” Bethany Bradley, of Women’s March Minnesota, said officials have not been transparent about the shooting and questioned why an audio recording of the 911 call has not been released.
“A woman should not call the police for help and end up dead. This should not have happened,” Bradley said. “This cannot happen in South Minneapolis. This cannot happen in North Minneapolis. This cannot happen in St. Paul. This cannot happen in the whole country. I’m angry.”
In a Facebook post Sunday night, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, who represented the neighbourhood as a city council member, said she is “deeply disturbed” by Damond’s death and called on investigators to release more information.
“Why? Why did you do it? He has no idea the impact he had on thousands of people.” ZACH DAMOND ON THE POLICE SHOOTING OF HIS SOON-TO-BE STEPMOM