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BCA Warrant: Woman 'Slaps' Squad Car Before Damond's Fatal Shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Two search warrants reveal new details in the police shooting death of Justine Damond.

Justine Ruszczyk Damond
Justine Ruszczyk Damond (credit: CBS)

One search warrant is for the alley where Justine Damond was shot and killed by Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Noor on the night of July 15.

The search warrant says moments before the shooting, a woman "slaps" the back of the police SUV.

Officer Mohamed Noor
Officer Mohamed Noor (credit: MPD)

WCCO has learned that at least one of the officers believes that woman was Damond, who had called 911 to report an assault.

She was fatally shot moments later by Officer Noor as she approached the driver's side door of the SUV.

While the first search warrant is for the alley where Damond was killed, the second search warrant is for her home.

Among the items police were searching for in Damond's home were controlled substances, weapons and bodily fluids.

Damond's fiancé, Dan Damond, had no problems with the search of the home just hours after she was shot and killed, according to Damond family's attorney Bob Bennett.

Don Damond
Don Damond (credit: CBS)

He says BCA agents were respectful, and that it was part of a routine investigation.

The search warrant says the BCA went into the home to make sure there was no delay in providing medical assistance to anyone who might have been inside, and that "nothing was taken" from the home.

But Hamline Law Professor Emeritus Joe Daly says after reading the warrant, it appears investigators were looking for any evidence that might explain Damond's killing in the hours after the shooting.

"They want to read, in her house, writings. They want to look for control substances," Daly said. "I just question whose the focus is on here now when they go into her house?"

Meanwhile, community members met Tuesday evening to seek out ways to prevent another shooting like this from happening again.

"Clearly we have a problem and it cannot stay the way that it is," said Michelle Gross of Communities United Against Police Brutality.

The organization held a meeting Tuesday night on the city's south side, searching for solutions to issues involving policing. People wrote down ideas then posted them under categories such as accountability. Scott Herold had one he uses often.

"If [people] see a police officer that has pulled somebody over or engaging them in conversation, to video tape those police," he said.

Minneapolis police have since publicly indicated that Officer Noor was not following police protocol.

Damond Shooting Crime Scene
(credit: CBS)

Five days after the shooting, and one day before she was forced to resign over the controversy, then-Police Chief Janeé Harteau said, "Justine didn't have to die. Based on the publicly-released information from the BCA, this should not have happened."

As for the search warrant in the alley, documents show among other evidence the BCA seized were fingerprints from the police SUV, presumably to prove whether it was in fact Justine Damond who had slapped the police car.

The BCA has said their investigation will take four to six weeks, then the case goes to the Hennepin County Attorney, who will determine if any criminal charges will be filed.

A number of people directly involved in this case tell WCCO the priority here is getting the investigation done right, not getting it done quickly.

 

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