MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Why did police shoot Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a bride-to-be from Australia who moved to a quiet, upscale south Minneapolis neighborhood to live with her fiancé?



It's a question that has mystified Minnesotans for nine months, but still there are no clear answers. The bewilderment doesn't stop at the state's borders. In Damond's native Australia, residents find the details surrounding her death downright baffling.

"This is a shocking killing. It is inexplicable," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said of the shooting. "I mean, how can a woman out in the street in her pajamas seeking assistance from the police be shot like that?" he asked.

The unarmed, 40-year-old meditation coach was shot the night of July 15 minutes after she made a 911 call to report a possible rape. When news of Damond's death broke, the Daily Telegraph — an Australian national newspaper — led its front page with news of the shooting, calling it an "American Nightmare."

What you'll find in the Tuesday edition of the @dailytelegraph https://t.co/yoZAoV4wqe pic.twitter.com/eFaNtya0jM

— The Daily Telegraph (@dailytelegraph) 17 July 2017 "A SYDNEY woman just weeks away from her wedding was shot dead by police in her adopted new hometown in America's Midwest after call 911 for help," read the paper's top story.



"To most Australians, the recent surge in police shootings across the US was obviously concerning but at the same time a remote issue, far from Australia's shores. That view has changed now with the fatal shooting by police of Sydney woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond in the suburb of Fulton, Minneapolis."

That same day, the front page of Australia's Courier Mail also expressed horror over Damond's death: "Shot dead in her pyjamas: Why on Earth did US cops kill Aussie who called for help."