Why Did Minneapolis Police Shoot Bride-To-Be From Australia?

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Justine Damond, 40, was weeks away from her wedding when she heard a noise Saturday night in the alley of the home in an upscale south Minneapolis neighborhood that she shared with her fiancé. How the 40-year-old bride-to-be from Sydney, Australia, ended up dead is a mystery that quickly became international news.

There’s no police video of the response to a 911 call of about a possible assault that occurred around 11:30 p.m. Saturday in Fulton. Despite a departmental policy requiring police to wear body cameras, the two police officers who responded to a 911 call hadn’t turned theirs on, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a news release. Investigators are trying to determine why and if video exists of the shooting.

The police cruiser camera also has no record of what happened in the area north of the 5100 block of Washburn Avenue S, according to the release. BCA crime scene personnel located no weapons at the scene.

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Zach Damond, the 22-year-old son of the victim's fiancé, also wants answers.

“Basically, my mom’s dead because a police officer shot her,” he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Residents of Fulton held a vigil Sunday night.

Watch: Minneapolis Police Shoot, Kill Australian Woman

"Tonight, I’m sad, and disturbed," Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said on Facebook. "This is a tragedy—for the family, for a neighborhood I know well, and for our whole city. My thoughts are with the family and the community. There is a long road of healing ahead, and a lot of work remains to be done. I hope to help us along that path in any way I can."

Minneapolis police began wearing body cameras last summer, when residents of the Twin Cities metro were rattled by the fatal shooting of Phlando Castile by a St. Anthony police officer.

People at the scene confirmed the woman's identity as Justine Damond, the Star Tribune reported. The Minneapolis police officer who shot her has been identified as Mohammed Noor, according to WCCO.

According to her website, Damond was trained as a veterinarian before she began working as a spiritual healer and meditation coach:

Her interest in supporting people to heal and transform themselves developed after she saw family members suffer greatly from depression, alcoholism and cancer. After losing much of her family to cancer she has spent many years on a personal investigative journey to discover how habits and disease develop, and how people can change and live in joy, expressing their full potential.

The Minneapolis Lake Harriet Spiritual Community confirmed her death:

We are so sad to report the tragic shooting of Justine Damond. Justine was one of the most loving people you would ever meet. We can't even imagine LHSC with out her.

Friends told The Sydney Morning Herald that Justine was engaged to marry Don Damond in August.

The BCA said Sunday its investigation is in "its very early stages." When the investigation is complete, the BCA will turn its findings over to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for review.

On Monday afternoon, Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau released the following statement regarding the shooting:

"I want to acknowledge the pain and frustration that family and community members have following the fatal officer involved shooting on Saturday night. This is clearly a tragic death.

I also want to assure you that I understand why so many people have so many questions at this point. I have many of the same questions and it is why we immediately asked for an external and independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting death. I've asked for the investigation to be expedited to provide transparency and to answer as many questions as quickly as we can.”

Image via Stephen Govel, used with permission