Former Minneapolis Officer Noor Sentenced to 12.5 Years In Prison

In court, Noor says he can't apologize enough " for taking the life of a perfect person.'' 

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — A Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder has been sentenced to a 12.5 year prison term for the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman who had called 911.

A Minnesota jury convicted Mohamed Noor in April of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia. Noor shot Damond when she approached his squad car in the alley behind her home.

Noor’s lawyers had argued for a light sentence, saying sending him to prison would only compound the tragedy and leave him unable to make amends.

In court, Noor says he can’t apologize enough ” for taking the life of a perfect person.”

An emotional Noor, his voice breaking, spoke in court about the shooting for the first time at his sentencing hearing.

He says he has lived with the shooting that he called a tragedy from the moment he pulled the trigger.

He says he was horrified when he saw Justine Ruszczyk Damond’s body on the ground.

Noor says “I knew in an instant I was wrong.”

He says the shooting “leaves me numb, and feeling incredibly lonely. But none of that, none of those words capture what it truly feels like.”