MINNEAPOLIS — The case of a Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed an Australian woman in July has been handed to prosecutors for possible charges, investigators and prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said agents have finished their investigation into Officer Mohamed Noor and have turned the case over to prosecutors for review.
Noor fatally shot Justine Damond, a 40-year-old life coach who was engaged to be married, on July 15 after she called to 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home. Noor’s partner, Officer Matthew Harrity, told investigators that he was startled by a loud noise right before Damond approached their police SUV.
In a statement Tuesday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said his office has received the case and “several senior prosecutors will now carefully review the case file to determine what, if any, charges might be brought.”
Freeman has said he expects to decide on charges before the end of the year.
During a meeting with Minneapolis residents Sunday, Freeman said the shooting of Damond “didn’t have to happen. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Freeman told residents that his job was to determine whether Noor did something criminal and whether there was enough admissible evidence to support a charge.
In another high-profile police shooting, Freeman decided that no charges would be filed against two officers involved in the November 2015 death of Jamar Clark.