Former Minneapolis officer convicted in 2017 shooting of Australian woman

A former Minneapolis police officer was convicted of third-degree murder Tuesday in the 2017 killing of an unarmed woman, according to the New York Times.

Mohamed Noor was convicted Tuesday in connection with the shooting of Justine Ruszczyk, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, the first Minnesota police officer in decades to be convicted in connection with a fatal on-duty shooting. In addition to third-degree murder, which carries a maximum 25-year sentence, Noor was also convicted of second-degree manslaughter, which carries a 10-year maximum sentence.

{mosads}Noor had refused to tell investigators why he shot Ruszczyk on the night of July 15, 2017, and discussed the shooting for the first time during the trial, telling the court he fired on her when he saw her approaching his car and feared for his life. “I fired one shot,” he said, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “The threat was gone. She could have had a weapon.”

Ruszczyk, who had called 911 twice that evening reporting what she believed to be a sexual assault behind her home, had been holding a cellphone when Noor shot her, according to the Times.

The shooting upended many of the dynamics typically at play in controversies over officer-involved shootings, as Noor is a Somali-American while Ruszczyk was white. The case led to the resignation of the city’s police chief, Janee Harteau, with then-mayor Betsy Hodges (D) saying “I’ve lost confidence in the chief’s ability to lead us further.” Hodges lost her re-election bid later that year.

Mayor Jacob Frey (D) lauded the verdict but added that the city would “stand with our Somali community,” according to the Times.

“While today’s verdict may bring closure to some, it will also serve as a reminder of how far we must go to foster trust where it’s been broken,” Frey said, according to the Times. “We must acknowledge that historical and ongoing racialized trauma continues to impact our society.”