“Justine didn’t have to die.” 
 
 Those were the first public words from Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau on Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian woman who was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer responding to a 911 call by Damond herself. 
 
 “Based on the publicly released information from BCA, this should not have happened,” Harteau told reporters Thursday evening, referring to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the shooting at the request of Minneapolis police. 
 
 The publicly released information isn’t too detailed. 
 
 Damond had called 911 twice shortly before 11:30 p.m. to report what she believed might be a woman being raped in the alley behind her house in south Minneapolis. Officer Matthew Harrity drove his squad vehicle with the lights off, as he and Officer Mohamed Noor headed down the alley behind the 5000 block of Washburn Avenue South. 
 
 According to what Harrity told BCA investigators, there was a loud noise and then Damond approached Harrity’s side of the vehicle. Noor opened fire across Harrity and through the driver’s side window, fatally striking Damond. She was unarmed. 
 
 That was enough for Harteau. 
 
 Harteau acknowledged it was rare for a chief to speak so strongly so early in an investigation into an officer’s conduct. 
 
 “Rare, but each situation is different, and I can certainly speak on what the public knows,” she said. “The death of Justine should not have happened.” 
 
 Harteau’s remarks came so many days after the shooting because she was on vacation, backpacking in what she called a “remote” mountainous area with only sporadic cellphone coverage. 
 
 “For a chief, this is a nightmare, not only to have an event like this occur but to not be here,” she said in response to repeated questions from several reporters. She added: “But I assure everyone in this community that there wasn’t anything that didn’t get done.” 
 
 She said the impact of the shooting, which has drawn international attention, particularly from Australia, has not been lost on her. 
 
 “This has had a negative impact on the trust we’ve built,” she said. 
 
 More than once, Harteau implied that blame should fall squarely on Noor. “We are talking about one individual’s actions,” she said. 
 
 Harteau said she had spoken with Damond’s family and promised them “justice.” 
 
 Noor has expressed sympathy through an attorney but has refused to speak with BCA investigators — his constitutional right. However, he could face discipline or even lose his job if he refuses to speak with Minneapolis police internal affairs investigators. 
 
 Harteau said she hopes Noor will talk. 
 
 “I would prefer Officer Noor would speak, whether it be to our internal process or the BCA,” she said. “There are questions that need to be answered.” ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Phil Helsel 
 
 The Australian bride-to-be who was fatally shot by a police officer after reporting a possible assault in Minneapolis called 911 twice to report her concerns and request help, according to transcripts of the calls police released on Wednesday. 
 
 The fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk, 40, who had already taken her fiancé's last name, Damond, has prompted relatives and Australia's prime minister to demand answers to how she ended up dead at the hands of police. 
 
 And her family members said Thursday that they were "struggling to understand how and why this could happen." 
 
 Damond first called 911 just after 11:27 p.m. local time Saturday (12:27 a.m. Sunday ET) to report "I can hear someone out the back and I, I'm not sure if she's having sex or being raped," and adding, "I think she just yelled out 'help'" but that it was hard to hear, according to the transcripts. 
 
 "It's difficult. The sound has been going on for a while, but I think, I don't think she's enjoying it. I think it's, I don't know," Damond told the operator, according to the transcript. "It sounds like sex noises, but it's been going on for a while and I think she tried to say help and it sounds distressed," she said. 
 
 Related: Lack of Police Body Cam in Damond Case Astounds Experts 
 
 The dispatcher told Damond that an officer was on the way. Damond called back shortly after 11:35 p.m. to ask where officers were. Asked whether there was an emergency, Damond told the operator: "Hi, I just reported one, but no one's here and was wondering if they got the address wrong." 
 
 Justine Damond, an Australian woman who was shot dead by police in Minneapolis on Saturday. Stephen Govel Photography 
 
 Damond, a native of Sydney, was fatally shot by Officer Mohamed Noor, who was in the passenger seat of a police vehicle and fired through the driver's-side window, Officer Matthew Harrity, who was driving, told investigators, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. 
 
 Harrity told the agency's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the shooting, that he was startled by a loud sound near the vehicle and that immediately afterward, Damond approached the driver's-side window and Noor shot her through the open window, the Department of Public Safety said in a statement Tuesday. 
 
 Noor has so far declined to be interviewed by the BAC, and the department said it cannot compel him. Noor has retained a private attorney. 
 
 Don Damond hugs a neighbor Monday after reading a statement about his fiancee, Justine Damond, who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police. Adam Bettcher / Reuters 
 
 Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called the shooting "inexplicable" and demanded answers, according to Australia's Channel 7 News. 
 
 Damond's family in Australia called for the investigation to "come to a conclusion, as soon as possible, so we have some resolution to the tragedy." 
 
 "We are still trying to come to terms with this tragedy and we are struggling to understand how and why this could happen," the family said in a statement, adding that they wanted to bring her body back to Australia. 
 
 "All we want to do is bring Justine home," it said. 
 
 Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau said the department immediately asked for an independent investigation and has pledged transparency. 
 
 Related: Justine Damond Was Beacon to All of Us,' Grieving Dad Says 
 
 Noor, who has been an officer with the Minneapolis Police Department for 21 months, and Harrity, who has been an officer on the force for one year, have been placed on administrative leave, which the Department of Public Safety said was standard. 
 
 Harrity's attorney, Fred Bruno, suggested in an interview with the Star Tribune newspaper that the officers could have feared being attacked. 
 
 "It's certainly reasonable to assume that any police officer would be concerned about a possible ambush under these circumstances," Bruno told the newspaper in comments that he confirmed to NBC News. "It was only a few weeks ago when a female NYPD cop and mother of twins was executed in her car in a very similar scenario." 
 
 Damond had planned to be married next month. She ran meditation workshops at the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community, which in a statement called her "a loved and a respected member." 
 
 Other police officers canvassed the area that Damond called 911 about and did not find any evidence of a crime related to the incident, Assistant Police Chief Medaria Arradondo told reporters on Tuesday. 
 
 Both Noor and Harrity had body cameras, but they were not turned on, the Department of Public Safety said. A camera in the police vehicle also was not turned on. 
 
 The police department issued body cameras to officers across the department eight months ago. Supervisor training is expected to be completed by the end of next month, with the goal of ensuring that officers are increasing activation of the body cameras, Arrando said. 
 
 The Department of Public Safety also said Tuesday that a bicyclist was seen in the area before the shooting and may have seen the incident. Police want to interview that person and any other witnesses. Mayor Betsy Hodges implored the bicyclist on Tuesday to come forward.
– Relatives, neighbors, and even the chief of police are demanding answers after the fatal shooting of an Australian woman in Minneapolis Saturday night. Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau says she wants to know why a police officer fatally shot Justine Damond, and she has called for a speedy investigation, the Star Tribune reports. Damond, 40, was shot dead after her fiance says she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault near her home. The officer involved has been identified as Mohamed Noor, who joined the force in 2015 and has three complaints against him on file, reports KSTP. The two officers at the scene did not have their body cameras turned on and there are no other known witnesses to the shooting. Damond was reportedly shot in the abdomen after approaching the arriving squad car in her pajamas. Don Damond, her American fiance, said Monday that the family has been told almost nothing about the shooting. "Our hearts are broken and we are utterly devastated by the loss of Justine," he said, per the BBC. "Sadly her family and I have been provided with almost no additional information from law enforcement regarding what happened after police arrived." Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is handling the investigation, says more information will be released after it interviews Noor and partner Matthew Harrity, a community service officer who was reportedly speaking to Damond, who was due to be married in August, when she was shot. More here.