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Neighbour of police officer who shot Justine Damond gives troubling account.

The Minneapolis police officer responsible for fatally shooting Australian Justine Damond on Saturday night has been described as “nervous” and “disrespectful to women” by a neighbour.

This comes after the officer’s family released a statement saying they are “traumatised” and labelling the incident as an “honest and sincere event.”

Damond, 40, was shot and killed by the responding police officer, Mohamed Noor, 31, after she called 911 to report a suspected sexual assault in the alley behind her home.

Noor fired at Damond from the passenger’s seat, across his partner and through the open window as she approached the driver’s side of the car in her pyjamas. The yoga and meditation instructor was struck in the abdomen and died at the scene.

Now Noor’s neighbour, forklift driver Chris Miller, 49, who has lived next door to the police officer for two years, has told News Corp Australia he wasn’t surprised to learn of Noor’s involvement in the incident.

“He is extremely nervous and a little jumpy. He doesn’t really respect women, the least thing you say can set him off,” he said.

Miller went on to describe an incident where Noor had gotten frustrated with children playing outside his home.

“They were outside playing and something got stuck in a tree and he came out and he just started yelling at the kids because they were out here playing,” he said.

Justine Damond. Image via social media.
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According to AAP, Noor, who has so far refused to speak with investigators or reporters, will be compelled to give a statement as part of an internal investigation within the Minneapolis police force. This statement will be inadmissible if a criminal investigation follows.

Though the police officer has not spoken publicly, his family released a statement to the media yesterday.

"We feel so bad about this, we are traumatised ourselves," the statement reads. "It's so unfortunate. If you wait for the investigation you'll know it was an honest and sincere event that transpired. Until then we can't really say anything."

As well as this, Officer Matthew Harrity, who was with Noor at the scene, has provided investigators with his recollection of events, AAP reports.

He said they were driving in the dark alleyway, with all the vehicle's lights off, when Noor was startled by a loud noise. Harrity said Damond appeared at the window "immediately afterward" and Noor fired.