
Justine Damond was shot in the abdomen Saturday night by Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Noor.
Shock and sadness is turning into outrage in Minnesota and Australia as officials offer few answers in the police shooting that left an Australian woman dead Saturday in Minneapolis.
Justine Damond, 40, of Sydney, Australia, called police Saturday night about a possible assault in the alley behind her home, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the agency investigating the shooting. Twenty minutes later, sheâd been shot in the abdomen by Officer Mohamed Noor, a 31-year-old Somali-American immigrant.
According to the BCA, Officer Matthew Harrity was driving the squad car Saturday as the two officers entered Damondâs alley. Harritty told investigators that the officers were âstartled by a loud sound near the squad.â Thatâs when Damond, who was in her pajamas, approached their vehicle on the driverâs side. Harrity said Noor, who was in the passenger seat, opened fire on Damond around 11:30 p.m., shooting at her through the open driverâs side window.
âThe officers immediately exited the squad and provided medical attention until medical personnel arrived,â said BCA in a press release. â(Damond) was pronounced dead at the scene.â
A cell phone was found near Damond, but no weapons were found at the scene. Both officers had body cameras, but they were not on during the incident. The squad camera was also off. While Harrity is cooperating with investigators, Noor is not.
The BCA said Noor has declined to be interviewed and his attorney has not provided clarification on when or if an interview would be possible.
In an autopsy report released Monday night, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner indicated that Damond died of a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. The report said the manner of death was a homicide.
âI have a lot of questions, as you do,â wrote Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges in a letter Monday. âMany of you have asked why the officersâ body cameras werenât activated, and Iâm asking the same question. Right now, we donât know.â
A yoga teacher and âspiritual healer,â the 40-year-old Aussie used her future husbandâs name on her website. Justine Damondâs maiden name was Justine Ruszczyk. She was set to marry Don Damond next month.
âBasically, my momâs dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I donât know,â said Donâs 22-year-old son Zach. âI demand answers. If anybody can help, just call police and demand answers. Iâm so done with all this violence. America sucks.â
In Australia, where a 1996 mass killing spurred sweeping gun control laws, the family of Justine Ruszczyk is struggling to understand the loss of their loved one. âWe are trying to come to terms with this tragedy and to understand why this has happened,â her family said in a statement.
âJustine, our daughter, was so special to us and to so many others,â Justineâs father, John, said Monday. âWe went down to Freshy [Freshwater] Beach this morning and saw the blackness change to light. Justine was a beacon to all of us. We only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death.â
One Australian headline called the incident an âAmerican nightmare.â
âWe see America as a very risky place in terms of gun violence â and so does the rest of the world,â said Philip Alpers, a gun policy analyst with the University of Sydney.
Both officers have been placed on routine leave during the investigation. On Monday, Noor issued a statement through his attorney.
âOfficer Noor extends his condolences to the family and anyone else who has been touched by this event,â said the statement. âHe came to the United States at a young age and is thankful to have had so many opportunities. He takes these events very seriously because, for him, being a police officer is a calling. He joined the police force to serve the community and to protect the people he serves.â