news

The police officer who shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond has been found guilty of murder.

 

-With AAP.

Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor has been found guilty of third degree murder for the shooting death of Australian life coach Justine Ruszczyk Damond.

Noor, 33, had been charged with second degree murder, third degree murder and manslaughter.

The jury of 10 men and two women took less one day to reach their decision to find him guilty of third degree murder and guilty on second degree manslaughter.

Mohamed Noor arriving at court. Image: Getty.

He was found not guilty of second degree murder. He was taken into custody straight after the verdicts were read.

ADVERTISEMENT

Damond, 40, formerly of Sydney, was shot dead by Noor when she approached his police vehicle in an alley behind her Minneapolis home.

Damond, a life coach and yoga instructor who lived in Minneapolis and was weeks away from marrying her American fiance, called police just before midnight on July 15, 2017, after she heard a woman’s screams and feared a sexual assault was taking place near her home.

In 911 transcripts released shortly after her death, she can be heard telling emergency operators she wasn’t sure if a woman outside her house was “having sex or being raped”.

Eight minutes later, at 11.35 pm, Damond called 911 again to ensure police were still coming to the scene. She confirmed her address and told the operator the woman in question was still screaming.

Damond was unarmed and dressed in her pyjamas when she approached Noor’s police vehicle in the dark.

Noor’s partner Officer Matthew Harrity was “startled” and “perceived that his life was in danger” when he heard a “muffled voice or whisper” and thump on the squad car when Damond suddenly appeared, according to prosecutors.

Noor was sitting in the front passenger seat of the squad car and shot across Officer Harrity, who was driving the vehicle, and out the driver’s side window striking Damond in the stomach, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Noor and Officer Harrity switched on their body cameras after the shot was fired and it captured their attempts to resuscitate Damond, who was declared dead at the scene.