Bride-to-be shot dead by US cop after she called 911 to report hearing noise outside her house
Justine Damond, who also uses the name Justine Ruszczyk, was at home on Saturday night when she called 911 to report a noise and a possible assault in an alley in South Minneapolis, Minnesota.
While police did not have body cameras switched on during the shooting, sources with knowledge of the incident claim the officers arrived at the alley at 11.30pm on Saturday night.
Ms Damond reportedly walked up to the car and began talking to the driver when an officer in the passenger seat pulled a gun and shot her through the drivers side door. No weapon was discovered at the scene, the Star Tribune reports.
The 40-year-old was originally from Sydney but had been living in the US for three years and was due to marry American businessman Don Damond, 50, next month.
Shattered friends said the woman and her fiance were due to marry next month, with Ms Damond already using her husband’s surname on her website.
At the time of the shooting Mr Damond, the vice president of Little Six Casino was away on business.
Her soon-to-be stepson Zach was reportedly also not at the home on Saturday night, returning on Sunday to discover the crime scene.
And just hours after the shooting he spoke to a local activist group, slamming police over the death of Ms Damond – who he called his ‘best friend’.
‘Basically my mum’s dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don’t know,’ Zach Damond said.Ms Damond’s Australian-based family released a statement through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Monday afternoon.
‘I demand answers. If anybody can help, just call police and demand answers. I’m so done with all this violence. It’s so much bulls**t. America sucks.
‘She was a very passionate woman, she thought something bad was happening – and next thing you know they take my best friend’s life.’
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