Did a loud noise startle police into shooting and killing Justine Damond?

Possible answers are beginning to emerge as to why Justine Damond was shot and killed by Minneapolis police after calling 911 to report a possible sexual assault in her South Minneapolis neighborhood on July 15.  Based on an investigation undertaken by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA,) Damond had approached the driver’s side window of the police car to speak to the officers just as the partner of the officer doing the shooting was startled by a loud noise near the car.  After hearing that loud sound, “the officer in the passenger seat, Mohamed Noor, fired his weapon, hitting Damond through the open driver’s side window,” according to a July 18 report from the Associated Press.

This new information came to light yesterday and was provided during an interview with Officer Matthew Harrity who was sitting in the driver’s seat of the squad car alongside Noor.  It was Noor who shot and killed Damond. Noor is still refusing to speak with investigators; and legally he cannot be compelled to do so.

Harrity, 25, has been with the Minneapolis PD for one year.  Noor, 31, has been a police officer for two years.  Both are currently on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation into Damond’s shooting.

Damond, 40, was an Australian yoga instructor and life coach.  She was an American citizen living with her fiancé and was to be married in August.  She was wearing her pajamas around midnight on July 15 as she approached the police car only to be shot to death by Noor.  Investigators found no weapon at the scene.  The police were wearing body cameras; but the cameras were not activated.  According to USA Today, just prior to Damond approaching the squad car:

Investigators say the officers were driving with all squad lights off through the alley behind Damond’s home. 

As they reached West 51st Street, Harrity, according to the police department’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, “indicated that he was startled by a loud sound near the squad.” Immediately afterward, Damond approached the driver’s side window of the vehicle.

Harrity told agents that Noor fired his weapon, striking Damond through the open driver’s side window. The officers immediately left the squad car and provided medical attention, but Damond died at the scene of a single gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges told reporters yesterday that she’d like Noor to speak to investigators regarding the shooting. The Associated Press quoted Hodges as saying, “It’s frustrating to have some of the picture but not all of it.  We cannot compel Officer Noor to make a statement.  I wish we could. I wish that he would make a statement.”

On July 17, The Washington Post reported that the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office ruled Damond’s shooting death a homicide.

Also see:  “Questions remain in fatal police shooting of Minneapolis bride-to-be”

https://youtu.be/WJ3fp9xMHow

Written by: Ace News Today Staff