Minneapolis to pay $20M to settle lawsuit over fatal shooting

The Associated Press

6 years ago

Justine Damond's family heads into the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, Tuesda ... — Justine Damond’s family heads into the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. A Minneapolis police officer, Mohamed Noor, was convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman, Justine Ruszczyk Damond, who approached his squad car minutes after calling 911 to report a possible rape behind her home. (Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via AP)

Posters of Justine Ruszczyk Damond are displayed at a news conference by attorneys for her family in Minneapolis, July 23, 2018. (Amy Forliti/AP, File)

Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, center, leaves the Hennepin County Government Center on April 1, 2019, after the first day of jury selection with his attorneys Thomas Plunkett, left, and Peter Wold, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via AP, File)

MINNEAPOLIS — The city of Minneapolis is paying $20 million to settle a lawsuit over a police officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed woman who approached his squad car after calling 911 to report a possible crime.

Mayor Jacob Frey announced the settlement Friday, three days after a jury convicted Mohamed Noor of murder and manslaughter in the 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. The dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia had called 911 to summon officers to a possible rape in the alley behind her house.

Noor argued that he and his partner were startled by a loud bang on their squad car and that he fired to protect them from a perceived threat.

Frey called the settlement “a way for our city to move forward.”