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Minneapolis Police shoot unarmed woman


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Why on Earth did Police shoot Justine Damond ?   She rang 911 to report hearing a woman being assaulted in an alley alongside her home and was shot dead by police when she approached the car to talk about what she heard. The police also did not use their body cameras which they are supposed to.  As she is an Australian who moved to the USA to be with her fiance, this has created much anger and discussion here.  .  So dreadful that she has lost her life to trigger happy police for no reason. There is going to be a full enquiry as to why she was shot as she was unarmed, non-violent and make the 911 call herself.  Rip Justine. 

Justine Damond: 'Why did the police not use their cameras?'

Image result for justine damond images

 

Questions are being raised by officials about why a police officer who shot an Australian woman, and his partner, did not record the fatal incident.

Justine Damond, 40, was gunned down on Saturday after calling police to report a possible crime in her quiet Minneapolis neighbourhood.

State investigators say the officers whom she encountered failed to activate their body or dashboard cameras.

Every police officer and squad car in Minneapolis is equipped with cameras.

"I have the same questions everyone else does. Why weren't the police cameras on?" said Mayor Betsy Hodges.

Minneapolis police are required to switch on their body cameras only during certain encounters, unlike in Los Angeles or Washington DC, where cameras must be switched on for any response to a call for service.

Instead, there are more than a dozen situations in which cameras should be used, according to the police manual, which adds that failure to use the camera could result in job termination.

Local media reported that Ms Damond was dressed in her pyjamas and approached the driver's side door to talk to the officer at the wheel after police arrived.

Officer Mohamed Noor, who was sitting in the passenger seat, fired his weapon across his partner and through the driver's door, striking Damond in the abdomen.

Her fiancé, Don Damond, said on Monday that the family is "desperate" for answers from officials.

Speaking in Sydney, her father John Ruszczyk said: "Justine was a beacon to all of us, we only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says he will personally decide whether to charge Officer Mohamed Noor, rather than put the question to a grand jury. And he questioned why the cameras were not turned on.

Officer Noor has been with the police force for two years, local media report.

Sources say his partner who was at the scene is Matthew Harrity, 25, who joined the force last year.

A police radio recordingAudio from the incident was released on Tuesday, in which police at the scene can be heard telling dispatchers that they are performing CPR, and that "no suspects are at large".

Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau called Damond's death "tragic" in a statement on Monday.

I've asked for the investigation to be expedited to provide transparency and to answer as many questions as quickly as we can," she said in her first comments on the killing.

The two officers involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave.

Ms Damond, nee Justine Ruszczyk, taught meditation classes at the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community in Minneapolis.

She studied to be a veterinarian before relocating to the US, where she is believed to have been for at least the last three years.

According to her website, she is a "qualified yoga instructor, a personal health and life coach and meditation teacher".

Her death has made headlines across her native Australia.

Over the past few years the US has seen a series of civilian killings at the hands of police that have prompted a national debate

 
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the us police seems to be the worst on earth. Everyday they shoot someone whose black, disabled or innocent people.

WOuld like to know how many people died this year just because of that

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Terrible news, poor woman

Clearly there is a cultural issue in the US (one among many) with regard to how unaccountable the police are in doing (or abusing) their job. Then there's the gun control issue .... Etc

 

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The more we hear about the case, the excuse that the policeman that shot Justine fearing an ambush is pathetic and insulting.  Justine was murdered by that policeman and he should be charged with murder.   Justine seemed like such a beautiful person and her concern about a woman possibly being raped has cost her her life.  This video showing her saving ducklings from a drain shows what a caring person she was.  

Justine Damond shooting: Minneapolis police ambush claim 'ludicrous'

A lawyer for the family of an Australian woman shot dead by police in Minneapolis says suggestions officers feared an ambush were "ludicrous".

Robert Bennett said Justine Damond was in her pyjamas when she approached them and "was not a threat to anyone".

Ms Damond was shot after approaching two officers in their car on Saturday after reporting a suspected rape.

Mr Bennett has acted in similar cases, including the high-profile police shooting of Philando Castile in 2016.

Fred Bruno, the lawyer for Matthew Harrity, whose partner killed Ms Damond, 40, had said: "It is reasonable to assume an officer in that situation would be concerned about a possible ambush."

But Mr Bennett told CBS News: "I think that's ludicrous. It's disinformation. It doesn't have any basis in fact."

He added: "She obviously wasn't armed, was not a threat to anyone, and nor could she have reasonably been perceived to be."

Officer Mohamed Noor, who shot Ms Damond in the abdomen in an upmarket neighbourhood of the city, has refused to be interviewed by investigators, as is his legal right.

Officer Harrity has spoken to investigators with the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is leading the investigation.

On Thursday, a statement from Ms Damond's family said: "All we want to do is bring Justine home to Australia to farewell her in her hometown among family and friends.

"We are still trying to come to terms with this tragedy and we are struggling to understand how and why this could happen."

 

On Wednesday, police released the transcript of two separate 911 calls Ms Damond made after hearing screams nearby.

"I'm not sure if she's having sex or being raped," she told the police operator, before giving her address.

"I think she just yelled out 'help', but it's difficult, the sound has been going on for a while," she continued.

Ms Damond called back eight minutes later to ensure police had the correct address.

Body cameras, which are worn by all Minneapolis police, had not been turned on at the time of the shooting and the squad car dashboard camera also failed to capture the incident.

Officers Harrity and Noor, who between them have spent three years on the police force, have been placed on paid administrative leave.

 

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Awful shooting seems like it was handled poorly by Minneapolis administration, and the cop already had some complaints filed against him. He acted with such poor judgment, and don't understand how he passed the rigorous screening to become a cop.

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