A 40-year-old Australian woman has been fatally shot by police in Minneapolis in the USA “for no reason”.
Justine Damond, a Sydney woman who’d been living with her fiancé and son in Minneapolis, was shot dead after calling 911 to report an alleyway attack.
“Two Minneapolis police officers responded to a 911 call of a possible assault just north of the 5100 block of Washburn Avenue South just before 11.30pm Saturday. At one point an officer fired their weapon, fatally striking a woman,” a police statement confirmed.
“Officers were dispatched. When officers responded, an officer-involved shooting occurred, which resulted in one adult female victim who is deceased and which has prompted our callout to the BCA [Bureau of Criminal Apprehension].”
“The BCA will now further be conducting this investigation, this officer-involved shooting, from this point forward.”
Neighbours and friends are now demanding answers as to why Justine, a popular meditation teacher, was shot dead by police.
Source: Twitter.
The city’s mayor Betsy Hodges has also called the incident “tragic” and demanded a full investigation:
The mayor also questioned why the police body cameras and squad camera, which were introduced to the Minneapolis Police Department in 2016, were not switched on when the shooting occurred.
A man named Zach Damond, who identified himself as Justine’s stepson posted a Facebook live video, demanding answers:
“Basically my mum is dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don’t know, and I demand answers. I just know is that she [the victim], heard a sound in the alley so she called the police, and the cops showed up.
“And she probably… thought something bad was happening and then the next thing, they take my best friend’s life.
“I’m so done with all this violence, it’s so much bulls–t.
“America sucks, these cops need to be trained differently and I need to move out of here.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed they’re providing consular support to the family of an Australian woman killed in the US.
More as we get it.
