The family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, the Australian woman who was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer after calling in a suspected crime near her home, is suing the city, the officers involved and the current and former police chiefs for violating her civil rights.
According to Reuters, the civil suit which was filed in federal district court in Minnesota names Mohamed Noor, the officer who fired the fatal shot and his partner Matthew Harrity in the lawsuit, accusing them of plotting to hide the facts around Damond’s shooting and failing to record the shooting on their body cameras. The suit also questioned their experience because of their ages (Noor was 32 at the time of the shooting while Harrity was 25), slamming them as “inexperienced officers who appear, by their conduct, unfit for duty.”
City officials declined to comment, and attorneys for Noor and Harrity also did not respond immediately for a request for comment from Reuters.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Damond’s father, John Ruszczyk, is seeking more than $50 million in damages for four claims.
Noor, who was fired from the force, is facing charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Damond’s death. He is currently free on $400,000 bail. According to his lawyers, he will plead not guilty, arguing that he used reasonable force.
Damond, a yoga instructor and life coach, had reportedly approached the police vehicle on the day that she died when the officers were startled by a loud sound. Noor fired the fatal shots through the open driver’s side window of the police vehicle.