Late Saturday night, two police officers in Minneapolis responded "to a 911 call of a possible assault" in the upscale Fulton neighborhood, and "at one point an officer fired their weapon, fatally striking a woman," Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said in a statement on Sunday. That woman has been identified as Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian woman engaged to be married to an American, Don Damond, in August, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. "The officers' body cameras were not turned on at the time and the squad camera did not capture the incident," BCA said in the statement.
On Sunday evening, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said the body cameras being turned off, in apparent violation of recently enacted regulations, is one of the questions she has about the "tragic" shooting. "I am heartsick and deeply disturbed by the fatal officer-involved shooting that happened last night," she added.
Don Damond's 22-year-old son, Zach Damond, showed up at the scene of the shooting at about 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, before heading to the airport to pick up his father, 50, arriving from a business trip. "Basically, my mom's dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don't know," he said. "I demand answers. If anybody can help, just call police and demand answers. I'm so done with all this violence." He said Justine, whose maiden name is Ruszczyk, called 911 because she "heard a sound in the alley."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
When the two officers arrived in the alley in one squad car, "Damond, in her pajamas, went to the driver's side door and was talking to the driver," the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, citing "three sources with knowledge of the incident." "The officer in the passenger seat pulled his gun and shot Damond through the driver's side door, sources said. No weapon was found at the scene." The two officers are on paid administrative leave while the incident is investigated.
-
What to know before turning to AI for financial advicethe explainer It can help you crunch the numbers — but it might also pocket your data
-
Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run'Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
-
Keith McNally' 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC paradespeed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
