Healing Walk For Justine Damond Planned For Thursday Night
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A walk for "healing and justice" is slated to be held Thursday night in south Minneapolis for Justine Damond, the Australian yoga teacher fatally shot by a police officer after calling 911 over the weekend.
The "Peace and Justice Walk for Justine" is scheduled to start Thursday at 7 p.m. at the intersection of 51st Street and Washburn Avenue South, according to a Facebook event page hosted by Women's March Minnesota.
The walk will start where Damond was killed and end about a mile away at a park on the west side of Lake Harriet. Participants are welcome to honor Damond by carrying "battery-operated candles."
The walk, which the Facebook page says was organized by Damond's neighbors, will focus on healing, seeking justice for Damond and others who have died at the hands of police.
Damond, 40, was shot and killed behind her home Saturday night after calling 911 over a possible sex assault. Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor fired the fatal shot, striking Damond in the stomach, from the passenger seat of the squad car.
Noor's partner, Matthew Harrity, told investigators that the officers heard a loud noise right before Damond approached the driver's side of the squad car.
While both officers were wearing body cameras, neither was turned on when the shooting took place. Likewise, squad car cameras failed to capture the shooting.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the incident. Noor has, so far, declined to give a statement.
Damond's death is the latest in a string of high-profile police shootings in Minnesota.
Last summer, Philando Castile was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. In 2015, Minneapolis police shot and killed Jamar Clark, leading to the 18-day occupation of a north Minneapolis station.
Earlier this year, the police officer who shot Castile was acquitted of manslaughter charges. The officers who shot Jamar Clark were not charged in his death.