A US police officer has been convicted of murder after shooting to death an unarmed woman who approached his car to report a possible rape. Mohamed Noor was also convicted of manslaughter over the July 2017 death of Justine Damond, a 40-year-old with dual American-Australian citizenship. Noor, 33, had told a jury a loud bang on his squad car scared him and his partner as they drove down an alley in Minneapolis and he opened fire "to stop the threat" after he saw a woman appear at his partner's window with a raised arm. Prosecutors questioned whether that bang had really happened, noting neither officer had mentioned it to investigators at the scene, and criticised Noor for shooting without seeing a weapon or Damond's hands. Noor, a police officer since 2015, was acquitted of the most serious charge of intentional second-degree murder. He faces up to 15 years for third-degree murder and nearly five years for manslaughter, although judges are not bound by state sentencing guidelines and can impose much lower sentences. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. 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Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut.<doc-sep>A Minnesota cop was found guilty Tuesday of fatally shooting Australian bride-to-be Justine Damond after she called 911 to report a possible rape behind her home. It took a jury five hours on Monday and six on Tuesday to convict Mohamed Noor of third-degree murder and manslaughter in the July 2017 shooting. The 33-year-old ex cop and his partner had been responding to Damond’s 911 call and driving down the alley behind her home. That’s when the unarmed, 40-year-old yoga teacher approached their car in her pink pajamas, and was shot in the stomach. Noor claimed he fired at the woman because he heard a loud bang on the driver’s door and thought his partner Matthew Harrity’s life was in danger. Prosecutors questioned whether the noise was real and blasted Noor for shooting without seeing a weapon or Damond’s hands. Noor could face anywhere from 12 and a half years for the murder charge and four year for the manslaughter charge.<doc-sep>It’s believed to be the first time a Minnesota police officer has been convicted of murder for an on-duty shooting. With no video of Mohamed Noor shooting Justine Rusczyk Damond and conflicting testimony about the moments leading up to her death in Minneapolis, some activists and community leaders have said race was a factor in this case from the start. The victim was white; the officer is black. From the moment Hennepin County’s top prosecutor charged Noor, he’s been fighting the perception that race played a role in his decision. He’s rejected that, but some say bias can be an underlying issue, even for those who believe they are acting in good faith. “We can’t deny that there is implicit racial bias in our society at large,” said Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. “Sometimes that enters into the decisions that prosecutors make. Sometimes that’s going to enter into the decision that jurors make. The hard part is trying to figure out when that is true.” Noor, 33, was convicted Tuesday of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia who was unarmed when she approached Noor’s squad car after calling 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home in Southwest Minneapolis. He was acquitted of second-degree intentional murder but still faces the prospect of years in prison. Noor testified that he and his partner heard a loud bang on their squad car that startled them, and that he fired “to stop the threat” after he saw his partner’s terrified reaction and a woman appear at his partner’s window raising her arm. His partner testified that he hadn’t yet assessed whether there was a threat himself. Prosecutors noted that Noor hadn’t even determined whether Damond had a weapon before firing. When Noor testified, he spoke of his early years in Somalia and time in a refugee camp before immigrating to the U.S. He also spoke of not being accepted when he first came to Minnesota. At times, prosecutors referred to Damond as a blond woman in a pink T-shirt, something that Osler said called attention to her race. Minnesota’s welcoming refugee programs have made the state a magnet for Somalis fleeing civil war, including families like Noor’s, and Minnesota is home to the nation’s largest population of Somali immigrants. Noor’s hiring in 2015 was celebrated by Minneapolis leaders eager to diversify the police force in a city that is 64 percent white. U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar — a Somali-American who is also from Minneapolis — tweeted Wednesday that Noor’s guilty verdict was “an important step towards justice and a victory for all who oppose police brutality.” “It cannot be lost, however, that it comes in the wake of acquittals for officers who took the lives of people of color, both in Minnesota and nationwide,” Omar added. “We must have the same level of accountability and justice in all officer-involved killings and address violence-based training for police officers.” The Minnesota-based Somali American Police Association issued a statement saying it believes institutional prejudice “heavily influenced” Noor’s conviction and that Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman had “other motives” when he charged Noor. “Unfortunately, it’s a system that seems to work for certain people and not for everybody. And it’s something we need to live with,” said Waheid Siraach, a spokesman for the association. Freeman rejected the idea that race played a role. “We look at each case based on the facts and the evidence and the law that’s in front of us. And I will stand by what we have done,” he told reporters immediately after Tuesday’s verdict. When asked how Noor’s case was different from fatal police shootings in which Freeman did not file charges, he said: “The evidence showed that the officer acted unreasonably.” Police officers in the U.S. are rarely charged in on-duty shootings, much less convicted. A database published by the Washington Post shows that since the start of 2015, U.S. police officers have shot and killed between 900 to 1,000 people each year. Since 2005, only 101 nonfederal officers have been charged with murder or manslaughter in an on-duty shooting, according to data compiled by Philip Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University. Some of those prosecutions are pending, but to date, only 36 officers have been convicted — often for lesser offenses. In Minnesota, only one other officer has been charged in a fatal shooting in recent history. Jeronimo Yanez, a Latino officer in St. Anthony, was acquitted of manslaughter in the 2016 death of black motorist Philando Castile in Falcon Heights. Yanez was terminated immediately after the verdict. Jurors in Noor’s case were questioned about their views toward Somalis before being selected. Half of the 12 jurors were people of color, including immigrants. One juror who spoke to KARE-TV on the condition that his name not be published said he respects the Somali community and Noor seemed like a good guy and a good police officer. “But we determined he committed a crime. And in the end, no one is above the law,” the juror said, adding: “It was two seconds’ time, he made a bad mistake, and even if you have a split-second decision, you’re still responsible for the decisions you make.” Noor, who was fired from the police force after being charged, is scheduled to be sentenced June 7. His attorneys have not commented on the verdict and have not said whether they will appeal.<doc-sep>
On body cam footage, Justine Damond can reportedly be heard saying, “I’m dead, I’m dying" after the shooting Officer Who Killed Unarmed Justine Damond After She Called 911 Is Found Guilty of Murder A Minneapolis police officer has been convicted of murder for fatally shooting a 40-year-old bride-to-be who called 911 to report a possible assault near her home. Mohamed Noor, 33, was found guilty by a Hennepin County jury of third degree murder and manslaughter for the 2017 death of Justine Damond, the Star Tribune, CNN, and Chicago Tribune report. Noor faced an additional count of second degree murder, but was acquitted. The trial lasted nearly a month and saw sixty witnesses testify, including Noor, who described the incident as a “traumatic experience,” CNN reports. On the night of July 15, 2017, Damond was on the phone with her fiancé when she said she believed there may have been a sexual assault near the couple’s home. She called 911 and when officers arrived, she told her fiancé she had to go. Mohamed Noor Mohamed Noor | Credit: KEREM YUCEL/AFP/Getty Noor and his partner responded to the call and as the pair pulled into an alley behind Damond’s home, she went out and approached them in her pajamas to talk, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. During the trial, Noor testified that he feared for the life of his partner, who was behind the wheel, as Damond approached their squad car in the dark, WCCO reports. The body camera worn by Noor’s partner, Matthew Harrity, was shown during trial. On the footage, Damond can be heard saying, “I’m dead, I’m dying,” WCCO reports. After Harrity tells Noor to holster his gun, Noor gives Damond CPR as his partner tells her, “Keep fighting, ma’am. Stay with us.” • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Police Shooting-Minneapolis Don Damond | Credit: Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP The case garnered national attention and the Minneapolis police chief resigned after calls for her removal. Noor, who joined the Minneapolis police force in 2015, had three complaints filed against him with the city’s Office of Police Conduct Review at the time of the woman’s death. Damond, who moved to the United States in 2015 from Australia, was set to marry her fiancé, Don Damond, in August. (She had already publicly taken his last name.) Her family attended the trial along with members of the Australian media, CNN reports. “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,” Don Damond said the day after she was killed. “It is difficult to fathom how to go forward without her in my life.”