Kuzma/iStock(MINNEAPOLIS) — Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor is set to be sentenced Friday morning for the fatal 2017 shooting of an Australian woman who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in an alley behind her home.
When police arrived at the scene, the woman, Justine Ruszczyk Damond, approached the driver’s side of the squad car, according to prosecutors.
Noor, who was in the passenger seat of the squad car, shot her through the open window on the driver’s side, prosecutors said.
There was no evidence of a threat when Noor fired the shot, according to prosecutors.
In April, Noor, 33, was found guilty of third-degree murder and manslaughter. He was found not guilty second-degree murder.
Noor, a two-year veteran at the time of the shooting, had pleaded not guilty to the charges. During the trial, his attorney maintained that he’d “acted as he has been trained” and that he should “not have been charged with any crime.” Prosecutors argued that the former officer had abused his authority to use deadly force.
Noor could face prison or probation, according to The Star Tribune.
On July 15, 2017, Damond called 911 to report that a woman sounded distressed, according to a criminal complaint.
“I think she just yelled out ‘Help,’ but it’s difficult. The sound has been going on for a little while but I think, I don’t think she’s enjoying it. … I don’t know,” Damond tells the dispatcher in the first 911 call.
She later makes a second 911 call, inquiring about the whereabouts of the officers who’ve been sent to investigate.
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