Australian woman shot dead by Minneapolis police officer


Details about what led a Minneapolis police officer to fatally shoot an Australian woman remained unclear Monday, with authorities only saying officers responded to a 911 call when she was shot.

As authorities continued to investigate, the woman’s family members released a statement through Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, saying: “We are trying to come to
terms with this tragedy and to understand why this has happened.”

Minneapolis authorities have not released the woman’s name.

The Star Tribune identified the woman as Justine Damond, 40, from Sydney, Australia. The newspaper reports she was engaged to be married and had already taken her fiance’s last name.
Her maiden name was Justine Ruszczyk.

WATCH: Friends mourn Australian woman killed by U.S. police


The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released a statement Sunday saying two Minneapolis officers responded to a 911 call for a potential assault late Saturday. Exact details weren’t released, but officials said an officer fired a gun, killing the woman.



The Star Tribune, citing three people with knowledge of the shooting, said Damond had been the one to call 911 about a possible assault in the alley behind her house.

The three people, who were not identified by the newspaper, said two officers pulled into the alley in a single squad car. Damond, wearing pyjamas, stood at the driver’s side door and talked to the
driver. The newspaper’s sources said the officer in the passenger seat shot Damond through the driver’s side door.

Officials say the officers’ body cameras weren’t turned on and that a squad camera didn’t capture the shooting.

It’s not clear why the officers’ body cameras weren’t turned on. The department’s policy allows for a range of situations in which officers are supposed to do so, including “any contact involving criminal activity” and before use of force. If a body camera isn’t turned on before use of force, it’s supposed to be turned on as soon as it’s safe to do so.

Some 50 friends and neighbours gathered in a semi-circle Sunday afternoon near where Damond died, with many more looking on from the sidewalk and street. Chalk hearts were drawn on the driveway pad.

WATCH: Minneapolis police confirm officers involved in deadly shooting of Australian woman


Damond had relocated to Minneapolis. Her website advertised services including personal health and life coaching, as well as workshops for businesses.


The woman’s son, Zach Damond, 22, said she was to marry his father Don Damond in August, although she had already taken his name.

“Basically, my mom’s dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don’t know,” Damond told the Star Tribune. “I demand answers.”

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges visited the scene, in a part of the city she once represented on the City Council. She said was “heartsick” and “deeply disturbed” by the shooting.

“There are still many questions about what took place, and while the investigation is still in its early stages, I am asking the BCA to release as much information, as quickly as they are able to,”
she said in a statement Sunday.

© 2017 The Canadian Press

 

Fuckin cop what more should I say. I guess Australians are abliged to shoot an Amer tourist .

 

That would make no better than the cop that fucked up and they are better than that for the most part.

 

This is one of those stories where you have to wait for more facts to come out before you can even figure out what happened, let alone, why it happened.

The media avoids saying anything that goes against their agenda so it takes awhile to find out even the most basic facts about such a story. At first we will only get information, which is often fake information, that aligns with their agenda. It takes a while for the other half of the story to emerge.

 

She called the cops ,
for help ,
and gets shot dead.

The other side of the story better be pretty good.

yeah I know,
anything's possible ,
just listen to Trump.
but it is true.
there may be alternative facts

 

She was talking to the cop on the driver side and the gets shot by the cop on the passenger side. That's about all that is known?

 

"through the drivers door"

When the Mayor says she is "deeply disturbed" you know that there is something amiss ...

WHY were all the camera's off (or improperly aimed) knowing full well they were going into a dangerous situation ??? I smell cover-up.

 

Had you stopped after the opening paragraph you would have sounded rational but NO you just can't help yourself lol.

 

The shooting occurred before the cops got out of their squad car. That may be why they hadn't yet turned on their cameras.

We don't know yet.

The fake news media only likes to give out details that reinforce their agendas.

 

Lintch that mother facker.

 

News said this is now being investigated as a homicide.

 

Australians see woman's shooting by police as US nightmare
SYDNEY (AP) - Half a world from where an Australian woman was shot dead by a Minneapolis police officer, Tuesday's front-page headline in her hometown Sydney newspaper summarized Australia's reaction in blunt terms: "AMERICAN NIGHTMARE."

In Justine Damond's native country, news of the meditation teacher's baffling death has dominated the airwaves, newspapers and websites for days, feeding into Australians' long-held fears about America's notorious culture of gun violence.

"The country is infested with possibly more guns than people," said Philip Alpers, a gun policy analyst with the University of Sydney who has studied the stark differences in gun laws between the nations. "We see America as a very risky place in terms of gun violence - and so does the rest of the world."

While police officers carry guns in Australia, deadly shootings by police are exceedingly rare; there are only a handful reported each year, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology. And though the U.S. doesn't keep a national database of deadly police-involved shootings, even incomplete statistics show there are hundreds every year.

America's reluctance to strengthen its gun regulations and its seemingly endless stream of shooting deaths have long been a source of confusion and concern in Australia, which instituted tough gun ownership laws in 1996 following a deadly mass shooting. At the time, then-Prime Minister John Howard - a conservative - warned Australians against following America's lead on gun control, saying: "We have an opportunity in this country not to go down the American path."

The Australian government's official travel advice to those heading to the U.S. specifically warns tourists to be on guard for gun crime, and urges Australians living in the U.S. to be familiar with "active shooter" training drills. Australian media coverage of America's frequent mass shootings is often tinged with disbelief - "another day, another shooting in America" is a common refrain on newscasts.

The death of Damond, a 40-year-old meditation teacher who was reportedly dressed in her pajamas when she was shot by a police officer late Saturday, has sparked a similarly stunned reaction. The story has led network newscasts and was splashed across newspapers' front pages. Sydney's Daily Telegraph ran an editorial headlined "A senseless and tragic death."

Authorities have released no details on what prompted Saturday's shooting, which occurred after Damond called police to report what she believed to be an active sexual assault in an alley near her home.

Damond's Sydney-based family issued a statement on Monday saying they were trying to come to terms with the tragedy and understand why it happened. On Tuesday, her father spoke out publicly for the first time.

"We thought yesterday was our worst nightmare, but we awoke to the ugly truth and it hurt even more," John Ruszczyk told reporters. "Justine was a beacon to all of us. We only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death."

 

Justine Ruszczyk: Australian killed by Minneapolis police was 'kind, funny'


(CNN)The fatal shooting of yoga instructor and life coach Justine Ruszczyk has led to an outpouring of grief and tributes, in her home country and the Minneapolis community she had made her home.

Originally from Australia, Ruszczyk's death, at the hands of a Minneapolis Police Department officer, has made headlines in her native country.
Ruszczyk called police Saturday night to report a possible sexual assault in an alley near her home, her fiancé, Don Damond, said in a news conference Monday.
Two police officers responded and one of them -- who had served only two years on the force -- shot the 40-year-old in the abdomen, killing her, according to police and the autopsy released Monday.

Shooting victim Justine Ruszczyk, with fiancé Don Damond.
"The death of Justine is a loss to everyone who knew her. She touched so many people with her loving and generous heart," Damond said Monday.
"Our lives are forever changed as a result of knowing her. She was so kind, and so darn funny. She made us all laugh with her great wit and her humor."
Her father gave an emotional plea for justice Tuesday.
"Justine, our daughter was so special to us and to so many others," John Ruszczyk told journalists in Australia, reading from a prepared statement.
"We went down to (Freshwater) beach this morning and saw the blackness change to light.
"Justine was a beacon to all of us. We only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death."
Due to marry next month
Ruszczyk had lived in the US since April 2014, a source who knew her said. She quit her career as a veterinarian to become a spiritual healer after losing her mother to cancer, CNN's Australian affiliate Seven News reports.
As an animal lover, she continued to volunteer at a local dog shelter, Secondhand Hounds, colleagues told CNN.
She was living with Damond at the time of her death, and they were planning to marry in August. She had already adopted his surname professionally.
Ruszczyk had dual citizenship in the US and Australia because her father holds US citizenship, the source said. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is providing consular assistance to her family.

Family of Justine Ruszczyk, killed by Minneapolis police, are 'desperate' for information.
Tributes pour in
Ruszczyk grew up in the Freshwater suburb of Sydney, and attended nearby Manly High School, and later Sydney University. She reviewed books for a Sydney neighborhood newspaper, the Manly Daily, the Australian Daily Telegraph reported.
It quoted a former colleague from the newspaper, reporter Rod Bennett, who spoke to her warmth and humor.

Justine Ruszczyk was "treasured and loved," a family friend said.
"We became good friends and often shared a laugh," Bennett said. "She had a terrific sense of humor and we immediately hit it off as mates," he said. "This has shocked me. I will miss her."
Julia Reed, a longtime neighbor and family friend of Ruszczyk, spoke to Australian media on behalf of the slain woman's family.
"She undoubtedly will be very missed by the family," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "She was treasured and loved, and we will really miss her."
'Like a mother'
Ruszczyk was equally loved in her adopted hometown of Minneapolis, and liked and respected professionally.
Nancy Coune, an administrator with the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community where Ruszczyk worked, described her as "inspirational" and a "gifted speaker." She conveyed a message "of love and peace and non-violence," Coune said in a statement obtained by CNN.
"Justine has an energy and care that allowed me to feel safe from the moment I walked in," a testimonial on her website, attributed to a wellness consultant named Jo Grabyn says. "Working with Justine changed my life in ways I never thought possible."
Grief, anger
Soon after she died, Ruszczyk's stepson Zach Damond took to social media, expressing anger at the man who killed his "best friend."
"My mom is dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don't know, and I demand answers," he said in a video posted to Facebook, wiping tears from his eyes.
On Sunday, members of Women's March Minnesota honored her in a vigil near the scene of her death. Tributes were written in chalk across the pavement, while candles were lit and flowers placed at a makeshift memorial. One sign reads: "Why did you shoot and kill our neighbor and friend?"
"This woman was a beautiful light. She was a healer, she was loved... She should still be here," one woman named Bethany said to applause.
"This should not have happened ... that could've been me, that could've been you, that could've been you, that could've been any of us," she added.
Divergent views on guns
Ruszczyk "hated" America's gun culture, according to one Australian media report, but moved to the country to be with Damond.
Australia severely restricted private gun ownership in 1996, just 12 days after 35 people died at the hands of a lone gunman wielding a military-style semi-automatic rifle at a popular tourist spot in Tasmania.
High-caliber rifles and shotguns were banned, licensing was tightened and remaining firearms were registered to uniform national standards -- an accomplishment regarded by many in the country as then Prime Minister John Howard's enduring legacy.
In the years after the Port Arthur massacre, the risk of dying by gunshot in Australia fell by more than 50% -- and stayed there.

 

The cop in question here is Mohammed Noor a Somali who is rather new to the force AND has 3 complaints on his record, two of which remain open ...

 

Mohammed ,
with a gun ,
a man under investigation over a violent arrest complaint
? ? ? ?

no wonder he didn't have his camera on

 

The only nation that is more stupid than Somalians are Palestinians. Somalian with a gun in USA it is non sence. You may as well give a hand grenade to shimpanze.

 

She learned a valuable lesson:

DON'T CALL THE COPS!

 

That explains everything. No wonder he shot the woman. She was in violation of Sharia law on numerous counts;

She spoke to a male (the other cop) without a relative or her husband being present.

She was outside in her pajamas.

She wasn't wearing a burka or even a hijab.

She was outside while not in the company of her husband or a male relative.

The Mohammad cop probably felt he had no choice but to shoot her in defense of Sharia law.

If we are going to continue to let muslims in our country then all you ladies better learn to be Sharia compliant.

 

A few years ago in Saudi Arabia there was a fire at a girl's school. When several girls ran out of the burning building, the firefighters made them go back inside to cover up their exposed arms. Several of the girls never made it back out and died in the fire.

I wonder if the same politically correct, dipshit liberals who hired this cop are also looking for some Mohammads to be firefighters too.