MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An Australian woman who called 911 to report what she believed to be an active sexual assault was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer in a case that has left many relatives and neighbors searching for answers.
Authorities have released no details about what led to the shooting of Justine Damond, a meditation teacher and bride-to-be who was killed late Saturday by an officer who reportedly fired his weapon from the passenger seat of a squad car.
There were no known witnesses other than the two officers in the car. A newspaper report said Damond was shot while standing alongside the car in her pajamas.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office on Monday night said Damond died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen and classified her death as a homicide. The report identified her as Justine Ruszczyk, but she had begun using her fiance’s last name professionally ahead of their planned August wedding.
Her fiancé, Don Damond, said the family has been given almost no additional information.
“We’ve lost the dearest of people, and we’re desperate for information,” he said. “Piecing together Justine’s last moments before the homicide would be a small comfort as we grieve this tragedy.”
Damond’s family in Sydney issued a statement Monday saying they were trying to come to terms with the tragedy and understand why it happened. On Tuesday, her father spoke out publicly for the first time.
“We thought yesterday was our worst nightmare, but we awoke to the ugly truth and it hurt even more,” John Ruszczyk told reporters. “Justine was a beacon to all of us. We only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death.”