Partner of cop charged in Minneapolis shooting takes stand

The partner of a Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman who had called 911 took the stand Thursday to recount the night of the shooting, and described his own mindset as considering every call a threat until its no longer a threat.

Officer Matthew Harrity is a critical witness of Mohamed Noor, who is charged with murder and manslaughter in the July 2017 slaying of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. Noor killed Damond with a single shot when she approached the officers squad car minutes after placing two 911 calls to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home.

Defense attorneys have said the officers were startled by a loud noise right before the shooting. Prosecutors, who have questioned that account, didnt immediately delve into the noise.

Instead, Harrity described the tension of the scene as he and Noor rolled down the alley in their police SUV with the headlights off, although it was the middle of the night. Harrity — the driver — used a spotlight as the pair tried to find any evidence of a woman in trouble.

Harrity described taking a safety off his holster in case he needed to pull out his gun.

Asked why, he said: Every call, I consider a threat until its no longer a threat anymore. And he added: I want to go home every night, so Im going to do everything I can to go home to my family.

Harrity said he didnt tell Noor that he had taken a safety off his holster and doesnt know what Noor was doing in that moment.

Harrity, who appeared in uniform and was composed in early testimony, was expected to spend much of Thursday on the stand as Noors trial neared the end of its second week. Its not clear whether Noor will testify.

The death of Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, drew international attention and disbelief in her native country. She was white. , 33, is a Somali American whose hire two years before the shooting was celebrated by Minneapolis leaders as a sign of a diversifying police force in a city with a large population of Somali immigrants.

Much of the prosecutions early case focused on the handling of the crime scene by police and state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents, including possible missteps. They also repeatedly after the shooting.

Neither Noor nor Harrity had their body cameras on at the time of the shooting. Quizzed about that on Thursday, Harrity blamed what he called a vague policy that didnt require it and said he was more concerned about being ready to respond to a threat.

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Check out the APs of Mohamed Noors trial.