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Minneapolis police chief says Justine Damond 'didn't have to die'

By Ray Downs
Minneapolis police said Thursday that the shooting death of Justine Damond on July 15 was unnecessary. Photo courtesy Justine Damond/Facebook
Minneapolis police said Thursday that the shooting death of Justine Damond on July 15 was unnecessary. Photo courtesy Justine Damond/Facebook

July 20 (UPI) -- Minneapolis' chief of police on Thursday said the fatal police shooting of unarmed Australian woman Justine Damond was unnecessary -- her first remarks on the growing scandal.

"Based on the publicly released information from the [Bureau of Criminal Apprehension], this should not have happened," Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau said during a news conference. "On our squad cars, you will find the words, 'To protect with courage and serve with compassion.' This did not happen."

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"I believe the actions in question go against who we are as a department, how we train and the expectations we have for our officers," she added. "These were the actions and judgments of one individual."

Harteau addressed the fact that neither of the officers involved in the shooting had their body cameras switched on during the incident.

"My expectation is that our policy is followed. Based on the information the BCA released, and without additional information as to why the cameras weren't on, it is my belief that the body cameras should have been activated," she said.

Damond, whose legal surname was Ruszczyk but went by the last name of her fiancee, was shot in the abdomen by police officer Mohamed Noor last weekend and later died from the injury. A short time before the shooting, she'd called 911 to report a possible rape in the alley behind her house.

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Officer Matthew Harrity, Noor's partner, told the BCA that the pair heard a "loud noise" before Noor fired his gun from the passenger seat of their squad car.

Noor has refused to be interviewed by investigators, which Harteau briefly addressed during the press conference.

"There are questions that need to be answered and he's the only one who has those answers," she said.

Noor, 31, has been on the MPD force for two years -- and Harteau said his training and qualifications fulfilled the expectations of a Minneapolis police officer.

"I have been told by his training officers there was no indication there would be any issues," she said. "He did well in his training."

During Noor's time in the department, he's had three complaints filed against him. One was closed without discipline and the other two remain open.

One of the complaints resulted in a lawsuit in which Noor and two other officers are accused of assaulting and falsely imprisoning a woman. The complaint says Noor allegedly grabbed the woman's "right wrist and upper arm" and caused a shoulder injury. The officers said the woman was having a mental breakdown, which she denies. The lawsuit is still pending.

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