MINNEAPOLIS _ The attorney for Minneapolis police Officer Matthew Harrity said that "it's certainly reasonable" for the officers to believe they were the target of a possible ambush when Harrity's partner, Officer Mohamed Noor, shot and killed Justine Damond in a south Minneapolis alley Saturday night.
Fred Bruno declined to discuss the ongoing investigation into the incident, which has drawn national and international attention and stirred community unrest and demands for answers as to why Noor, 31, shot the 40-year-old spiritual healer from Australia.
"It's certainly reasonable to assume that any police officer would be concerned about a possible ambush under these circumstances," Bruno said. "It was only a few weeks ago when a female NYPD cop and mother of twins was executed in her car in a very similar scenario."
Bruno was referencing the case of New York City police Officer Miosotis Familia, 48, who was killed July 5 after a mentally ill man shot her in the head while she sat in her squad car in the Bronx.
Noor's attorney, Thomas Plunkett, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, or BCA, released some information, based in part on an interview with Harrity, who said the two were responding at 11:30 p.m. to a call of a possible assault in the quiet Fulton neighborhood when he was startled by a "loud sound." Damond, who was the 911 caller, approached Harrity in the driver's side window of the squad car "immediately afterward," according to the statement.
Noor, who was in the passenger seat, then fired across his partner, striking Damond in the abdomen.
After Noor shot Damond, the officers exited the car and started performing CPR until medical responders arrived. Damond was pronounced dead at the scene.
The officers were wearing body cameras, but they did not turn them on until after the shooting, according to the BCA. Investigators say they are not aware of any video or audio of the shooting.
Bruno would not specify what Harrity told BCA investigators beyond what was made public, saying, "I can't reveal specifics of the interview."
"To be fair to everyone involved, I don't want to compromise the investigation," he said.
