MINNEAPOLIS _ Amid the chaos and confusion in the aftermath of Justine Ruszczyk Damond's fatal shooting, a Minneapolis police lieutenant testified Friday that only when he spotted her photo in her home did he realize she was the 911 caller who summoned the officer that killed her.
Responding officers from that night continued to testify Friday in the murder trial of former officer Mohamed Noor, who shot Damond from inside his squad car on July 15, 2017, while he and his partner, Matthew Harrity, were responding to her call about a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her south Minneapolis home.
Testimony from Thursday and Friday continued to illustrate a chaotic scene where many first responders were not immediately informed that Damond had been killed by an officer, even as they tried to investigate her death. It also revealed that Noor and Harrity were viewed by their supervisor as productive, hardworking and trusted with privileges not allowed to every patrol officer in the precinct.
Lt. Daniel May, who at the time was the supervisor in charge of the 5th Precinct mid-watch shift, arrived to see Damond uncovered in the alley before he, along with Lt. Richard Zimmerman and a pair of homicide detectives, went inside her home to determine what had happened to the 911 caller. They passed the dining room table, and when he saw photos of Damond, he knew she was the woman in the alley, May testified.
"I was starting to form an impression that the person who was shot down there was quite possibly the 911 caller," May said. "I was pretty confident it was the same person."
Someone else found a letter addressed to Damond, which was how they identified her, he said.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Peter Wold, May said that he approved Noor and Harrity to work in a precinctwide car that few others have access to. May said he had previously discontinued the squad car because it was not being used appropriately. The car can respond to calls across the precinct while others are generally restricted to three specific zones.
But, he testified, he reinstated it when a shift manager asked him about reviving it. May said he told the manager he would only use the squad for "the right officers." He described officers assigned to the precinctwide car as "productive, hardworking" officers who were known and expected to respond to several calls.
The shift manager suggested Noor, Harrity and a third officer, May testified, adding that he agreed to reinstate it.
Wold asked May why he also approved Noor and Harrity to carry a high-powered rifle, which is in limited supply at Minneapolis police. May testified that he trusted their judgment.
"You want officers who are going to respond and get (to calls) quickly," May said. "Obviously you're not going to arm just anybody with that type of weapon."
Wold's line of questioning appeared geared at possible concerns regarding Noor and Harrity's experience. He asked May why he approved the duo as a team when both were younger and newer on the department.
May said officers who complete the police academy are expected to be equipped to work alone on occasion, so he had no reservations about approving them as partners. Officers typically seek out a partner and ask higher-ups for approval, he said.
Young partners can often be "more active" and "more productive" than more experienced colleagues, May testified.
Earlier in the day, Wold asked officer Jesse Lopez, one of the first officers on the scene, if it was department protocol that colleagues in officer-involved shootings refrain from talking to other officers about the incident.
Yes, Lopez said.
Lopez's body camera was played in court Thursday, showing him instructing Noor to "keep your mouth shut."
Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Amy Sweasy tried to counteract Wold's move.
"Is the defendant a grown man who can make his own decisions?" she asked.
Yes, Lopez answered.
"Thank you," she said. "Nothing further."
The testimony, along with accompanying body camera footage, continued to illuminate the response to what happened that night as Noor's trial continues. Damond's fiance, Don Damond, plugged his ears as body camera video from Officer Joseph Grout was played, which showed him arriving to the scene amid confusion.
May, who fatally shot Tycel Nelson in 1990, said under questioning by Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Patrick Lofton that he tried to comfort Noor at the scene, saying that he too had been involved in an officer-involved shooting before Lofton cut him off due to an earlier ruling that officers' past histories with fatal shootings couldn't be brought up in testimony. Another officer tasked with watching Noor after the shooting, Mark Ringgenberg, was involved in the 2015 fatal shooting of Jamar Clark.
Lofton continued to press for more leeway when it comes to discussing the department's body camera policy, as the state continues to lay out a case that officers regularly turned off their body cameras at the crime scene. Quaintance ruled earlier that prosecutors could not bring up the policy because at the time Damond was shot, it was discretionary, and she feared starting a "mini-trial" regarding the issue. In the wake of the shooting, Chief Medaria Arradondo adopted a new policy ordering that the cameras must run while interacting with the public or responding to 911 calls, with few exceptions. Lofton said they expected to call Arradondo to testify.
Noor and Harrity did not have their body cameras activated at the time of the shooting, but turned them on immediately afterward. Lofton said the fact that they weren't on is relevant.
"It certainly is an indicator as to their state of mind as to whether they were in danger," he said.
Harrity, Noor's partner, is also expected to testify next week. Lofton said prosecutors did not have a chance to prepare him for testimony about driving down the alley before the shooting, as he declined.
"He's elected not to do that; that's his right," Lofton said.
