Killer cop Mohamed Noor breaks silence on Justine Ruszczyk Damond’s death
Mohamed Noor, the US cop who shot and killed Australian Justine Ruszczyk Damond, has broken down in tears as he talked for the first time about the events leading up to her death.
Mohamed Noor has explained for the first time why he shot dead unarmed Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond after she called 911 for help.
Taking the stand in the fourth week of his murder trial, Noor said that although he clearly saw she was a blonde woman wearing a pink top, that when she raised her arms as she stood beside the driver side door his squad car, he believed she was holding a weapon.
As he heard his partner exclaim “oh Jesus” and look terrified, he believed they were being attacked.
“He feared for his life and there was a threat and my intent was to stop the threat,” Noor said in court.
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Asked by his attorney Thomas Plunkett: “At what point in time did you realise the threat was gone?”, Noor replied it was when he saw Ms Damond take two steps back from the car and collapse.
“So you went from thinking that you were about to be killed to realising you shot an innocent person. How did that feel,” Mr Plunkett asked.
“I felt as like my whole world came crashing down,” Noor said, as he started to cry on the stand.
“Great anguish, couldn’t breathe, I had trouble breathing, slight paralysis.”
Noor also defended his decision to not explain his actions for almost two years after he shot Ms Damond, saying that he had refused the first interview request from investigators on his attorney’s advice.
He said he didn’t comply with a later summons from a grand jury because he felt he was being targeted by the Minneapolis county attorney for political purposes.
“That decision was mine,” Noor said, adding that he took it after County Attorney Mike Freeman “at a holiday party told a group of activists that he would like to charge me as a Christmas present to himself.”
Noor’s testimony that he clearly fired at a person is at odds with that of his partner, Matthew Harrity, who last week told the court that he had only seen a silhouette outside his window.
Prosecutor Amy Sweasy asked: “No doubt about it, you knew that you were shooting a person?”
“Yes ma’am,” Noor answered.
“So her whole blonde hair, pink top, no shoes and all, that was a threat to you?” Sweasy asked.
“I rely on my training ma’am,” he answered.
“When Ms Ruszczyk was still standing you thought she was still a threat?” she asked.
“I stopped firing once the threat was gone,” Noor replied.
“She stepped back and she went into the darkness.”
Sweasy also pressed Noor on why he fired when there was a cyclist nearby, but he said couldn’t remember thinking about it.
“So when you fired that shot out the window at Ms Ruszczyk, you were aware there was another out there that was moving in the same direction that your gun was?” Sweasy asked.
Noor: “I don’t recall that ma’am.”
Noor talked through the day of the shooting in July 2017, with detail ranging from what he ate to the split second where he fired his service revolver
“We were busy that night, basically call to call,” he said.
He said he and Harrity drove to the lane behind Ms Damond’s home and couldn’t find any evidence of the woman screaming that she had reported to 911. They stopped at the mouth of the alley, and saw a cyclist nearby.
“At the time I recall thinking that it was unusual for a cyclist to be in the area,” Noor said. After deciding there was no reason to stay at the callout, the pair signaled by sending a ‘code four” to their headquarters that they were safe.
“As soon as I hit ‘code four’ I hear a loud bang on the driver’s side,” Noor said.
“As soon as I hear that bang, my parter yells “oh Jesus” while he went for his weapon.”
He said that he believed Harrity’s gun was stuck in his holster, because he looked back at him from the open window “with fear in his eyes”. Noor then reached across his partner’s chest and fired out the window.
“My partner feared for his life,” Noor said.
“How did you know?” his attorney, Thomas Plunkett asked.
“I saw it, sir,” Noor replied.
“My partner feared for his life. She could have a weapon sir.
“My partner would have been dead.”
Plunkett asked: “When did you fear for you and your partner’s life?”
Noor: “As soon a he looked back. He yelled out ‘Oh Jesus’, he went for his gun.”
“The female on the drivers side there was raising her arm,” Noor said.
Noor, who had earlier told the court about how he felt a calling to be a police officer to “give back” to the city of Minneapolis after it became home for his refugee Somali family, was emotional when he spoke about the impact the night had on his career.
“If I knew this would happen I would never have become a cop,” he said, crying.
And he described the moment he realised his shot was fatal, saying it was “as soon the ambulance didn’t leave with her is when I realised”.
In over an hour of testimony prior to the lunch break, Noor talked about his childhood and police training.
Ms Damond’s family, who have sat every day through his three and half week trial, have been listening intently in the front row of the public gallery.
Noor, 33, in a dark suit, blue shirt and striped tie, was soft spoken and ended many sentences with an upward inflection, answering his lawyer Thomas Plunkett’s questions with “yes sir”.
Before he spoke, Minneapolis Judge Kathryn Quaintance asked him he if he understood he did not need to give evidence.
“Yes your honour, I understand,” he said.
Noor will return to the stand tomorrow.
His defence claims that he shot the unarmed Australian life coach because her approaching his squad car made him fear for his life.
Two veteran police officers were asked in court if Noor’s decision to fire at Damond without any warning could be justified.
They both answered with an emphatic no.
Not only did her killing in July 2017, defy police training, even the use of a taser or pepper spray would have been unwarranted.
“The use of force was objectionable, unreasonable and violated police policies,” Minnesota Lieutenant Derrick Hacker told prosecutor Patrick Lofton.
“No reasonable officer would have perceived a threat by somebody coming up to their squad (car).
“This whole situation could have been avoided.”
Former Baltimore and Charlottesville police chief Timothy Longo slammed Noor.
“If officers are not trained to handle situations like this, then we ought to be training citizens not to approach police cars,” Mr Longo said.
“And that defies logic.”
Prosecutors have called more than 50 witnesses before the jury and Judge Kathryn Quaintance in the murder and manslaughter trial of Noor, who was responding to a 911 call Damond made when he killed her shortly before midnight on a summer Saturday night.
The evidence from Lt Hacker, a serving Minnesota officer who was paid $A42,000 as a prosecution “use of force” expert for his time assessing the case and for testifying, was challenged by Noor’s lawyers.
They argued that he was not a credible expert because he had never experienced an officer involved shooting and the only time he had fired his service revolver was to kill an “aggressive” pit bull dog.
Noor has pleaded not guilty and his defence argues that he shot Damond, 40, because he feared he was in a “classic ambush” situation after she slapped the squad car being driven by his partner Matthew Harrity.
Prosecutors dispute Damond touched the squad car and the court has heard conflicting evidence of when this claim was first made and who raised it.
But Lt Hacker said even if there had been a loud noise, Noor’s reaction was wrong and talked through the correct response.
“You need to identify the target. Who is it? Is it a male, is it a female?” he said.
“If an officer cannot see that, then the officer is not allowed to use deadly force.”
Lt Hacker said there was no justification for causing the death of Damond, who was barefoot and wearing pyjamas.
He said she “did nothing wrong”.
“The most reasonable force in this situation would have been no force at all,” Lt Hacker said.
“The slap or even the barking dog or whatever is irrelevant.
“The fact is that Ms Ruszczyk essentially approached the squad and she was shot.
“Police are approached daily. This happens routinely.”
Noor has never explained his actions.
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