Lieutenant Kroll says the Minneapolis case should focus on the events leading to the tragic loss rather than the status of the person lost

The Minneapolis police union boss has broken his silence, saying Officer Mohamed Noor, who shot Justine Damond dead in July, should not be charged simply on that basis that the Australian yoga instructor was a “fine young woman in a nice neighbourhood”.

In a letter published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Lieutenant Bob Kroll has also alleged a lack of objectivity and professionalism on the part of the top prosecutor in the case, Hennepin county attorney Mike Freeman, who will decide if Noor will be charged.

Justine Damond: prosecutors to consider charges in fatal police shooting Read more

Freeman’s comments at a recent Minneapolis town hall meeting, where he was questioned by residents about the 15 July shooting that made headlines in the US and Australia, had raised the ire of the police union head.

“Freeman’s comments that ‘I’m saddened by the death of this fine young woman’ and that ‘it didn’t have to happen – it shouldn’t have happened’ show he is focusing on the status of the person lost rather than the events leading to a tragic loss,” Kroll, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, who has previously declined to comment on the shooting, wrote.



“This comment breaks with the imperative that fairness cross all socio-economic boundaries. We want an assurance that Noor will not be charged simply on the basis of Damond’s status as a fine young woman in a nice neighbourhood.

“The status of the deceased as a fine young woman, while true, is not and should not be part of an objective decision to charge anyone with a crime. This case is tragic, and so are the too many other deaths that have occurred in our city.

“This comment brings Freeman’s objectivity into question.”



Noor, following legal advice, has declined to speak publicly or to investigators about the shooting.



Damond’s death has added to already bubbling racial issues and protests over police shooting in the US city. An independent body has handed the results of its investigation to Freeman, who has indicated he will decide by the end of the year if Somalia-born Noor will be charged.

Justine Damond 'didn't have to die', says Minneapolis police chief Read more

Damond’s family has also called for a transparent investigation where there “is no stone left unturned”.

“We trust that the Hennepin county attorney’s determination will be based on an astute assessment of the facts,” the family wrote in a statement this week.

Damond was shot by Noor after she called 911 just before midnight on 15 July to report a woman screaming in her affluent Minneapolis neighbourhood.

When Damond approached Noor’s police car in an alley behind her home, he shot across his partner and out of the car window where the Australian was standing in her pyjamas.

Kroll also said in his letter that “irresponsible comments by public officials are fuelling the creation of police widows and widowers”.