MINNEAPOLIS _ The fiance of Justine Damond, the woman shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer in the alley behind her home Saturday night, said his "utterly devastated" family has been told little by law enforcement about what transpired.
"We lost the dearest of people and are desperate for information," Don Damond said Monday afternoon. "Piecing together Justine's last moments before the homicide would provide small comfort as we grieve this tragedy."
The officer who shot Damond has been identified as Officer Mohamed Noor. Meanwhile, state investigators have confirmed that they did not find any weapons at the scene. Sources identified his partner on the scene, who did not fire any shots, as Officer Matthew Harrity.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau issued a statement Monday afternoon saying she would request a speedy investigation into the shooting, which she called "tragic."
"I have many of the same questions and it is why we immediately asked for an external and independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting death," said Harteau, who is out of state "on a personal commitment" but is receiving regular briefings and will return soon, according to a police spokesperson. "I also want to assure you that I understand why so many people have so many questions at this point. I've asked for the investigation to be expedited to provide transparency and to answer as many questions as quickly as we can."
Flanked by his family while standing in front of his Fulton neighborhood home, Don Damond read a brief statement saying his fiance called 911 to report "what she believed was an active sexual assault occurring nearby."
"Sadly, her family and I have been provided with almost no information from law enforcement regarding what happened after police arrived."
Emergency dispatch audio posted on PoliceClips.com offers some insight into the response of police and other emergency personnel. The Twin Cities website monitors law enforcement scanner dispatches and shares them online. "Female screaming behind the building," says the dispatcher at shortly before 11:28 p.m.
Later, an officer declares "shots fired," and requests emergency medical personnel. "We've got one down" quickly follows.
A call was immediately made for emergency medical personnel to rush to the scene.
After the "shots fired" transmission, the initiation of CPR was reported from the scene, near the intersection of Washburn Avenue and 51st Street.
After the shooting, an officer says "no suspects at large."
On Monday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said officers were responding to a 911 call of a "possible assault." "At one point an officer fired their weapon, fatally striking a woman," the news release said. "BCA crime scene personnel located no weapons at the scene."
The BCA confirmed that an autopsy has been completed. After confirming that there was no body camera or dashcam footage of the incident, the agency said the investigation "does not determine whether a law enforcement agency policy was violated. That would be reviewed through the agency's internal affairs process."
Don Damond was going to marry Justine Damond, who was from Sydney, Australia, in August. He described her as a teacher to many while "living a life of openness, love and kindness."
"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," he said. "It is difficult to fathom how to go forward without her in my life."
The BCA has not officially named Noor, but a source confirmed that he was the shooter. Attorney Tom Plunkett is representing the officer, but declined to identify him.
The morning afterward about 200 people gathered Sunday to mourn Damond. Loving messages remain written in chalk on the sidewalk near the scene, at the end of an alley. A bouquet of flowers rested on the windshield of an SUV.
"This is about Justine; it's about Don, a horrific thing has happened in their lives, but it reverberates through the community," said neighbor Richard Burbach, looking on as Australian news crews gathered around the Damond home. "I hope that the global media can continue to put enough focus on this, that there is a kind of pressure that will provide an essential ingredient that will change policing, not just in Minneapolis but the country as well."
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton had no comment Monday on the shooting. Law enforcement had previously criticized Dayton for comments he made the day after Philando Castile was killed by former St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez.
"Would this have happened if the driver were white, if the passengers were white?" Dayton asked last year. "I don't think it would have. ... On behalf of all decent-minded Minnesotans, we are shocked and horrified. This kind of behavior is unacceptable."
Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the Minneapolis Police Federation as well as a spokesperson with the Somali American Police Association, declined to comment until the BCA investigation is complete.
Three sources with knowledge of the incident said Sunday that two officers in one squad car, responding to the 911 call, pulled into the alley. Damond, in her pajamas, went to the driver's side door and was talking to the driver. The officer in the passenger seat pulled his gun and shot Damond through the driver's side door, sources said. Family members and friends said they didn't want to identify her because her family in Australia hadn't been told yet.
"Two Minneapolis police officers responded to a 911 call of a possible assault just north of the 5100 block of Washburn Avenue S. just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday," the BCA said in a news release. "At one point, an officer fired their weapon, fatally striking a woman.
"The BCA's investigation is in its early stages. More information will be available once initial interviews with incident participants and any witnesses are complete ... The officers' body cameras were not turned on at the time and the squad camera did not capture the incident. Investigators are attempting to determine whether any video of the incident exists."
Minneapolis police confirmed that the two officers involved are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure.
In Minneapolis, police officers are required to wear body cameras any time they could "reasonably anticipate" they will need to record an incident. The policy specifies that officers record any use of force, as soon as it's safe to do so.
The ACLU has called for penalties for the officer's failure to activate body cameras.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges called the shooting "tragic" in a news conference at City Hall late Sunday afternoon, appearing with assistant Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and Linea Palmisano, who represents the 13th Ward on the City Council.
"I am heartsick and deeply disturbed by the fatal officer-involved shooting that happened last night," Hodges said.
Arradondo confirmed that the officer bodycam program is fully rolled out in Minneapolis but declined to say more about why there is no footage of the shooting.
Don Damond's son, Zach, arrived at the scene with a close family friend about 11:30 a.m. Sunday. While the couple were not yet married, Justine referred to herself as Damond on her personal website. Her maiden name was Justine Ruszczyk.
"Basically, my mom's dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don't know," Zach Damond, 22, said, referring to Justine. "I demand answers. If anybody can help, just call police and demand answers. I'm so done with all this violence."
Zach Damond said Justine called police after she "heard a sound in the alley."
He left the scene at noon Sunday to go to the airport to pick up his father, who had been on a business trip out of town.
From her home in the middle of the block, Justine Damond would have had to walk a little more than 100 yards to get to the end of the alley.
There are three lights mounted on telephone poles along that route plus nine motion-detector lights on garages, and neighbors said the alley is well-lit at night.
A woman named Hannah, who came to the scene with Zach Damond and is a close family friend, said Justine was a "spiritual healer." Hannah, 21, did not want her last name used for safety reasons.
"I don't know what she was doing out," Hannah said. "She's such a kind woman. She took me in when I was in a tough situation and helped me with whatever I needed.
"They were just so in love," Hannah said of Justine and Don Damond. "I'm just kind of in disbelief."
At a community vigil in the neighborhood on Sunday night, about 50 friends and neighbors held hands in a semicircle around the spot where Justine Damond fell, while another 200 or more people watched from the sidewalk and the street. Some sobbed.
"This woman was a beautiful light," said Bethany Bradley of Women's March Minnesota, who had been at the scene since Sunday morning. "She was loved. She should still be here."
Leslie Redmond of the Minneapolis NAACP said she and other members of the NAACP who attended "stand in solidarity with the family."
Nekima Levy-Pounds, one of three mayoral candidates who attended, said, "I hope and pray this is a wake-up call for the community to stop being divided by race and socio-economic status ... for treating everybody with respect."
Justine Damond's website says she "originally trained as a veterinarian" and "has also studied and practiced yoga and meditation for over 17 years, is a qualified yoga instructor, a personal health and life coach and meditation teacher, embracing and teaching the neuro-scientific benefits of meditation."
