Lawyer: It is 'reasonable' that Minneapolis cops linked to fatal shooting feared ambush
The attorney for a Minneapolis police officer whose partner fired a shot through the patrol car window that killed an Australian woman, said Wednesday that it was reasonable for the officers to have feared that they might be targets of an ambush.
The victim, Justine Damond, 40, an Australian meditation instructor who moved to the U.S. in 2015 to be with her fiance, had called 911 to report sounds of a woman screaming. She was unarmed and wearing pajamas when she approached the police car in the dark alley just before midnight.
Investigators say Officer Matthew Harrity, 25, who has been with the police department for a year, was driving the squad car and his partner, Officer Mohamed Noor, 31, a two-year veteran of the force who fired the fatal shot, was seated on the passenger side.
Harrity’s attorney Fred Bruno told the Star Tribune “it’s certainly reasonable” to assume any officer would be concerned about an ambush. He referenced the recent death of a New York City officer killed in her squad car.
Investigators say the officers were driving with all squad lights off through the alley behind Damond's home when the shooting occurred.
As they reached West 51st Street, Harrity, according to the police department's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), "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.
Police said neither the officers' body cams nor the dash cam on the car were working. Both officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
Noor, a Somali-American, has declined to be interviewed by BCA agents. The bureau says it cannot legally compel the testimony of either officer.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the death a homicide, a finding that does not necessarily mean charges will be filed in the case.
A transcript of Damond's 911 calls shows she reported a woman screaming.
"Hi, I’m, I can hear someone out the back and I, I’m not sure if she’s having sex or being raped" Damond tells the dispatcher.
Asked if she can hear the woman screaming, Damond replies: "Yeah. It sounds like sex noises, but it’s been going on for a while and I think she tried to say help and it sounds distressed." The dispatcher says police are already on the way.
Eight minutes later, Damond calls back to say that the police haven't shown up yet.
— Operator: You’re hearing a female screaming?
— Caller: Yes, along behind the house.
— Operator: Yup, officers are on the way there.
— Caller: Thank you.
Moments later, the squad car with Harrity and Noor arrives in the alley.
Investigators are looking for witnesses to the incident, including a young male bicyclist they say stopped and watched officers give medical assistance, the Star-Tribune reports.
On Tuesday evening, Mayor Betsy Hodges, Assistant Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and City Council Member Linea Palmisano, spoke to reporters, including members of the foreign media, to say they are still limited by the ongoing investigation.
“We do have more information, though it’s frustrating to have some of the picture but not all of it,” Hodges said.
“We cannot compel Officer Noor to make a statement; I wish we could,” she said, quickly clarifying: “I wish that he would make a statement.”
In Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull weighed in on the issue Wednesday, calling the fatal shooting "shocking" and "inexplicable." He said his consulate-general in Chicago is seeking answers from U.S. authorities, Reuters reported.
"How can a woman out in the street in her pajamas seeking assistance be shot like that?" the prime minister asked in an interview with Nine Network, an Australian TV station. "It is a shocking killing, and yes, we are demanding answers on behalf of her family."
The Australian media has likewise expressed dismay over the shooting and Damond's father pleaded Tuesday for "the light of justice" in the case.
"We thought yesterday was our worst nightmare but we awoke to the ugly truth and it hurt even more," said John Ruszczyk, Damond's father, who lives in Harbord, Australia.
"Justine, our daughter, was so special to us and to so many others," he said, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
The headline on a story in the The Daily Telegraph of Sydney read, "American Nightmare," while The Courier Mail topped its article with, "Shot dead in her pyjamas, Why on earth did U.S. cops kill Aussie who called for help?"
The incident has also raised concerns of a possible backlash within Minneapolis' large Somali-American community. On Tuesday, according to the Star-Tribune, a Minneapolis Somali-American police officer anonymously spoke on behalf of himself and eight Somali-American colleagues, expressing both condolences to the victim's family, as well as fear for members of his community.
“We can’t imagine the pain and suffering the victim’s family is going through and our hearts go out to them,” he said, adding the media has been staking out the homes of some of the officers.
“This is scaring our families," he said, according to the newspaper. "It’s difficult to deal with some media groups going to other Somali officers’ houses who are not involved in this shooting. It makes it hard to do this job when you’re worried about your family.”
The shooting came just weeks after Jeronimo Yanez, a former St. Anthony, Minn., police officer, was acquitted in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, an African-American. Two years ago, a pair of Minneapolis police officers were not charged after shooting and killing Jamar Clark during a scuffle.
