Fake Street Signs Warn Of 'Easily Startled' Twin Cities Police

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Unauthorized street signs warning motorists and pedestrians of "easily startled" Twin Cities police began popping up on roads in Minneapolis and Saint Paul Sunday. The signs depict a spooked police officer recklessly firing off a couple of guns and state, "WARNING: TWIN CITIES POLICE EASILY STARTLED."

The signs reference the fatal July 15 shooting of Justine Damond by Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Noor. Noor's partner told investigators the shooting occurred after he was "startled" by a loud sound near their squad car.

The shooting took place minutes after Damond called 911 to report a possible rape near her Minneapolis house.

Damond, 40, originally from Australia, planned to marry her fiancé next month. She worked as a meditation coach.

The fatal shooting occurred about a month after the jury found Officer Jeronimo Yanez not guilty of manslaughter after killing Philando Castile during a traffic stop in a Twin Cities suburb last summer. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Minnesota Patch, click here to find your local Minnesota Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Two signs have been spotted so far, with one on University Avenue in Saint Paul and another in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Cedar-Riverside. City crews have begun removing them.

Related:

• Justine Damond Shooting: Witness Is Interviewed
• Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau Resigns

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