Details emerge in shooting death of Australian
Officer was startled by sound, police investigators told
MINNEAPOLIS— An Australian woman who called 911 to report a possible assault was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer after the officer’s partner was startled by a loud sound near their squad car, the partner told investigators Tuesday.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Justine Damond, 40, approached the driver’s side window of the squad car immediately after the driver had been startled by the sound. The officer in the passenger seat, Mohamed Noor, fired his weapon, hitting Damond through the open driver’s side window, the BCA said.
The BCA said its information was based on an interview with the officer driving the car, Matthew Harrity. Harrity was interviewed Tuesday, but Noor declined to be interviewed. The BCA said his attorney did not indicate when, or if, Noor would talk to investigators, and under the law an interview can’t be compelled.
Harrity and Noor are on paid administrative leave. Harrity has been with the Minneapolis police department for one year, and Noor has been with the department for nearly two.
According to the BCA, Harrity told investigators that he and Noor responded to a 911 call from Damond about a possible assault near her home around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Harrity was driving the squad car as the officers went through an alley to look for a suspect. The squad lights were off. Harrity told agents he was startled by a loud sound near the cruiser, and immediately afterward, Damond approached the driver’s side window. Harrity told agents that Noor fired his weapon through the open driver’s side window.
No weapon was found at the scene. The officers did not turn on their body cameras until after the shooting, and the squad car camera was also not activated.
Harrity told investigators that after the shooting, the officers got out of the squad and gave Damond immediate medical attention.
Damond, who was planning to be married next month, was a meditation teacher and life coach. Her maiden name was Justine Ruszczyk, but she had already started using her fiancé’s surname.
News of Damond’s baffling death has dominated the media in her home country for days. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, in an interview Wednesday with Australia’s Today show, joined the chorus demanding answers.
“How can a woman out in the street in her pyjamas seeking assistance from police be shot like that? It is a shocking killing,” Turnbull said. On Tuesday, Damond’s father spoke out publicly for the first time since the shooting. “We thought yesterday was our worst nightmare, but we awoke to the ugly truth and it hurt even more,” John Ruszczyk told reporters. “Justine was a beacon to all of us. We only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death.”
Noor joined the police department in March 2015, and his assignment to a Minneapolis neighbourhood was publicized by city leaders and the Somali community.
But Noor’s short time on the force has not been without blemish.
Records from the city’s Office of Police Conduct Review show he has had three complaints against him. Two are pending, and the third was dismissed without discipline. Minnesota state law forbids releasing details of open cases and ones that result in no discipline.