State: Separate 911 Call Response Relevant To Mohamed Noor Case

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Prosecuting attorneys say Mohamed Noor's response to a similar but separate 911 call the same night he shot and killed Justine Ruszczyk Damond in 2017 demonstrates the former officer's recklessness.

According to court documents, the state is asking to introduce Noor's response to the 911 call as intrinsic evidence in the case. The 911 call requested a welfare check for an elderly woman in the same area where Ruszczyk Damond was shot.

Noor and his partner responded to the call one hour and 40 minutes before Ruszczyk Damond was shot and killed. Authorities never found the woman.

"It shows that the defendant and his partner made no effort to help a woman or women who appeared to be in distress in the area," reads the request, which was filed Friday. "This demonstrates that the defendant acted recklessly when he decided to shoot the next, and first, person he encountered less than two hours later. The evidence completes and clarifies the story of the events leading up to Ms. Ruszczyk's death."

Noor is charged with second-degree intentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

In July 2017, Australian native Ruszczyk Damond had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her southwest Minneapolis home. Noor and his partner Matthew Harrity responded to the 911 call. Police say when Ruszczyk Damond approached the squad car, Noor reached across his partner in the driver's seat, then shot and killed her.

"The most important piece of information the defendant had when he shot Ms. Ruszczyk was that he was just at that location on a similar call 100 minutes earlier. He knew that on the previous call, he did not see the woman who was the subject of three 911 calls," the request states. "Likewise, he knew, in those moments leading up to Ms. Ruszczyk's death, that he had still not seen another woman (or possibly the same woman) who was the subject of two additional 911 calls."

Both officers had body cameras, but they weren't turned on. Prosecutors say Noor fired at Ruszczyk Damond from no more than six feet away, striking her in the torso five inches above her waistline and killing her almost immediately.

Noor's attorneys say he acted reasonably when he shot Ruszczyk Damond.

However, prosecutors say Noor acted recklessly in using deadly force.

Noor's trial begins April 1, 2019.