After Fighting For Body Cameras, Hodges Wonders Why They Weren't On
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The search for answers and information continues Tuesday as a community mourns the loss of a beloved yoga and meditation teacher.
Family members say 40-year-old Justine Damond was shot and killed by Minneapolis police near her home after calling 911 Saturday night to report a sexual assault.
According to a law enforcement source, Damond was standing at the driver's window of a squad car when Officer Mohamed Noor opened fire from the passenger seat.
The bullet passed in front of his partner, and went through the open window, fatally striking Damond.
While few details have been released about the shooting, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has confirmed that no weapons were recovered from the scene.
While both Noor and the other officer involved, Matthew Harrity, were wearing body cameras, they were not turned on when the shooting happened.
Mayor Betsy Hodges helped introduce cameras to the police force last summer. She's one of many officials wondering why they weren't turned on.
"We have a lengthy policy that we put into place," she said Tuesday. "I fought hard to get body cameras, they are a very potent tool, they are not an infallible one, we but made sure that the community was very involved in helping draft the body camera policy, and there is a very lengthy section about when it should be on and when it should be off."
The mayor added: "I don't know why the body cameras weren't on. That's one of the questions I share with the world, is why don't we have body camera footage?"
Noor joined the police force in 2015 as the first Somali-American officer in the 5th Precinct.
In a statement, Noor's attorney said his client extends his condolences to the family and anyone else who has been touched by this event.
While the officer's body cameras were off, at least two of Damon's neighbors tell CBS News that police went door-to-door after the shooting to see if anyone's surveillance cameras captured the shooting.
In his two years working for the Minneapolis Police Department, there were three complaints filed against Noor, including a federal lawsuit related to an incident in May.
In the lawsuit, the female defendant accuses Noor and other Minneapolis officers of forcing their way into her home and holding her without cause when they were responding to a call.
Noor and his partner have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure following an officer-involved shooting.
