The shooting of Justine Ruszczyk, 40, set off outrage as far away as Australia, where Ruszczyk had lived for most of her life, and forced changes in the policies and leadership of the Minneapolis Police Department. The trial drew intense attention among Minnesota’s Somali-American residents, many of whom wondered whether the former officer involved, Mohamed Noor, who was born in Somalia, would be treated fairly.
From the start, the case had been a mystery. Noor, who was later fired by the Police Department, declined to speak with investigators about why he opened fire a few minutes before midnight on July 15, 2017. At trial, Noor, speaking publicly about the shooting for the first time, said he feared for his life when he saw Ruszczyk approaching his cruiser and made a split-second decision to shoot.
“I fired one shot,” Noor said in court, according to The Star Tribune newspaper. “The threat was gone. She could have had a weapon.”
Prosecutors said Noor, 33, acted unreasonably — firing at a shadowy figure without a verbal warning — and that he should be convicted of murder.
“Justine was approaching the car unarmed. They couldn’t even tell whether it was a male or a female, an adult or a child,” said Mike Freeman, Hennepin County’s elected prosecutor, when charges were filed last year. “What is the threat that requires the use of deadly force? What was the serious crime that was going on?”
Ruszczyk had called 911 twice that night to report what she thought was a sexual assault in the alley behind her home. Peter Wold, a lawyer for Noor, acknowledged that Ruszczyk, who was about to get married and sometimes used her fiancé’s surname, Damond, had in fact posed no threat. She had been holding a glittery cellphone and standing outside a rolled-down window of the squad car when she was shot.
After Ruszczyk’s death, the Minneapolis police chief was forced out, and the mayor was voted out of office. The Police Department also revamped its body camera policy: Noor and his partner, Officer Matthew Harrity, had been wearing cameras that night, but neither officer had them turned on at the time of the shooting.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.