Bodycam footage shows attempts to save woman shot by officer
Published 8:27 am Friday, April 12, 2019
MINNEAPOLIS — The fiance of a woman who was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer after she called 911 to report a possible crime cradled his head in his hands Thursday as body-camera footage of attempts to save her was played at the officer’s trial.
Don Damond declined to watch the chaotic footage of the unsuccessful efforts to save Justine Ruszczyk Damond, who was shot minutes after calling 911 to report a possible rape near her home. Justine was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia who had taken her fiance’s last name ahead of their wedding, set for a month after her July 2017 death.
The Star Tribune reported that one officer’s body camera showed Officer Mohamed Noor and his partner taking turns performing CPR before firefighters arrived and took over.
Noor is charged with murder and manslaughter. He was from the Minneapolis Police Department after being charged.
Defense attorneys have said Noor was reacting to a loud noise and feared an ambush. Prosecutors have argued there was no evidence Noor faced a threat that justified deadly force.
An assistant medical examiner testified Wednesday that Noor’s single shot hit Damond in a key artery in her abdomen, and she lost so much blood so quickly that even faster medical care might not have saved her.